Both Feet
by SpazzyBabySister
Summary: An alternate course for the lovable and quirky gang at Jump Street Chapel. Hanson is assigned to a classic case of students buying and selling drugs. In other words: the usual. But will things stay that way or will he find himself fighting more battles inside than out?
1. Bada Bing

Hanson rolled his eyes as he strolled out of his last class of the day. Without having made any progress in the past week regarding his case and having to listen to that moronic history teacher drone on and on about things he kept mixing up and misinterpreting, Hanson was growing impatient and irritable. All he wanted to do was get back to the chapel and relax; maybe even go through the notes on the case again to see if there was anything he missed that would give him a clue as to whom the perpetrator was.

"I'm telling you, I saw her!" Hanson overhead a girl in front him say to her friend as they walked slowly, keeping him from passing them.

"No way. I thought she was dead," the friend said, sneering slightly.

"That's what I thought! But get this, I hear she's workin at a strip joint downtown," the first girl whispered loudly with a wicked snicker.

"No! Really? Ha! Serves her right. Stupid bimbo."

"I know right? I bet the rumor's true, too, then."

"Which one?"

"The one about her living with that druggy Damien, dumbass." Suddenly, Hanson's ears perked up and he stopped trying to swerve around the girls. Maybe this Damien was the guy Hanson had been sent in to find. He ran through the details of the case in his head quickly. There was a kid in this high school dealing drugs, but it wasn't as simple as that. The guy had a network. Even his lackeys had lackeys. It was clear from this detail that this kid was no wanna be dealer; he had to be connected to some real dealers. Normally, Hanson wouldn't be interested in petty gossip like this since more often than not it was just girls getting back at other girls, but with the less than stellar week he'd had, this was really his only lead. Just as he started to hang back and listen more intently to the conversation, they reached the doors at the front of the school and the girls rushed down the steps to their boyfriends.

Exhaling a heavy sigh, Hanson rested all of his weight in his chair at once, causing the old thing to creak quietly. Still frustrated, he lifted his feet up to rest on his desk as he pulled the case file into his lap for review. "Any progress on our drug dealer?" Hanson looked up lazily to see Captain Fuller standing in front of his desk with an expectant look. Running a hand through his hair while taking a deep breath, he rolled his eyes, looking for a good way to spin it. Finally, he patted his desk with both hands and took his feet down as he responded casually, "Not so far, Coach. _But_ I think I got a lead today."

"Good," Fuller replied without much of a reaction. "Follow it as soon as possible. We have more cases coming in and I need this wrapped up soon." With a purse of his lips and a small, unenthusiastic salute, Hanson lifted himself from his chair and headed back out to scope out downtown for any clues as to which strip club the girl might be affiliated with. Lucky for him, there weren't many so as long as he kept his ears and eyes open he should be able to narrow it down to two possibilities if not one. Of course, that was if luck was on his side, which it apparently wasn't. The road he decided to take to get downtown ended up being blocked off because of a collision and he had to sit in traffic for a few hours before finally getting home.

The next day, just when Hanson was getting ready to throw his books on the floor of the classroom and give up, he heard the guy next him whispering to his buddy about what sounded like the same girl. Leaning in closely, he strained to hear as much of the conversation as he could. Although he didn't get much, he did manage a name that sounded familiar and he knew must be the name of the club. "Bada Bing…" he whispered quietly to himself as he hurried down the steps of the school and out to his car. "It even _sounds_ sleazy."

It took a little driving around to find a parking spot, but he eventually found one fairly close to the location and took a deep breath after climbing out of the Mustang. With a quick crack of his neck and after rolling his shoulders back, Hanson adjusted his brown leather jacket and waltzed up to the doors of "Bada Bing." He was surprised to find no form of bouncer around to keep under-aged kids from entering. Quickly surveying the area, he noticed a large number of tables with who knows how many horny boys gawking at scantily clad women walking around serving drinks and cheap fast food. Entirely confused at this point, Hanson finally spotted a door across the room with an "Adults Only" sign over it. Nodding with a faint smirk, he headed over toward it, only to be kept back by the arm of a large, muscular man. "What's a matter, kid? Can't read? Adults only. Go sit down and get yourself a sippy cup," the man chuckled lowly in his gruff voice. Undeterred, Hanson flashed his perfected delinquent smile and headed back to an empty table. The second he sat down, an attractive young woman sauntered up and asked him what he'd like to order. After a moment of not really scanning the menu, he sat up and rested his arms on the table as he order a Coke before adding, "Hey, so what's the deal with this place?" Rolling her eyes, the girl told him she'd have his drink in a minute and walked away. Flicking his eyebrows up and rolling his lips out into a pout, he sat back and folded his hands into his lap. The sudden presence of hands on his shoulders made him jolt into an upright position as he whipped his head around to see a man not much older than him sit in the seat beside him. "Hey, what's up, kid?" the guy asked as he waved to the waitress bringing over Hanson's soda.

"Nothing much," he answered, leaning back into the chair again cautiously.

"Oh?" The man lifted his eyebrow curiously while the girl placed the glass on the table. "Not enjoying yourself at my quaint little establishment?"

A quiet bell rang in Hanson's head and he cleared his throat softly, putting on a smirk. "You own this place? Nice set up you got here," he said with a nod toward one of the waitresses passing by.

"Yup," the man nodded as he rested one arm behind him over the corner of the chair and took a sip from Hanson's glass. "Got my best good girls out tonight."

Figuring he might as well try, Hanson leaned over a little and asked, "What about your best bad girls?"

Laughing, the man ruffled Hanson's hair. "You're too young to go anywhere near them, scout." Just as he was about to add something, a Mexican girl with a notably strong presence tapped him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear. He grimaced and whispered something back to her to which she rolled her eyes and motioned with her thumb to the Adults Only section. "Well, looks like I've got some business to take care of. Sal here'll keep you company til I get back…" he gestured for Hanson to give his name.

"Tom. Tom Russel."

"Sal, Tom. Tom, Sal. Go ahead and become lifelong friends." Sal kicked the man's backside as he walked away, a smile clear on her face by how deep her dimples appeared.

"Don't worry about Marcus," she said to Tom once the man had disappeared into the other part of the building. "He's still a kid at heart who happens to own one of the few 'fantasy friendly' establishments around here."

Hanson chuckled, looking up at the woman and studying her face to find how young she actually appeared to be. Somehow, her demeanor made her seem older at first glance. "Fantasy friendly," he repeated, grinning at the ridiculousness of the phrase.

"Yup. Coined it himself. You all good here?" she asked, motioning to his glass.

Hanson nodded at it, but added, "I would like some company, though."

Sal shook her head slightly. "Cute. I'm working."

"I believe you were told to become my lifelong friend," he replied, tipping his glass at her before taking a sip. Smiling again and shaking her head, Sal sat in the seat Marcus had left. "So…Sal…not exactly the most feminine name out there," he commented, thinking of Blowfish back at Jump Street headquarters.

"It's sort for Salma," she said, twirling her hand to signal to another waitress to bring her something to drink. "Marcus is just too lazy to say two more letters." Tom smiled and was about to ask her about Marcus's age policy for the girls working for him when a loud crash alerted him to a man being thrown out of the Adults Only section and colliding with a table nearby. The boys sitting there got their feet just in time to avoid being knocked over along with the table as the man slid across the floor some feet. Marcus stomped out right after him and pressed the bottom of his boot down hard onto the man's neck, threatening to crush his windpipe. Hanson glanced at Salma quickly to see her eyes locked intently on Marcus, her face almost expressionless.

"I'm gonna say this once so you can get it through that thick, drunk head of yours: nobody, and I mean _nobody_, is allowed to touch one of my girls without her express permission. You got that, scumbag?" The man tried to nod as he practically clawed at Marcus's boot, trying to make it budge. Satisfied that the man had been punished enough, Marcus lifted his boot and ordered the bouncer to throw him out. Then, with a nonchalant grin, he opened his arms to the room full of gaping people. "Hey, hey! Don't let this little mishap ruin your evening! Free round of pop on me!" At just the mention of the word "free," the entire room returned to the atmosphere it had a minute earlier as though nothing had happened. Perturbed and a bit mentally whiplashed, Hanson watched as Marcus walked over to Salma and asked her to go check on the girl in the back. Salma nodded and without sparing a moment to even acknowledge Hanson, she headed into the Adults Only section to get to the locker room. "Sorry you had to see that, Russel," Marcus said, throwing an arm around Hanson's shoulders. "We may be fantasy friendly, but the one thing I absolutely won't tolerate is seeing a woman mistreated." It took everything Hanson had to keep himself from rolling his eyes at Marcus.

The next half hour was spent engaged in idle chitchat while Marcus rambled on and on about what seemed to be whatever happened to float into his head at the time. Hanson couldn't get a word in edgewise no matter how hard he had been trying. Finally, he thought he saw his chance when Salma came back to tell Marcus that the girl had gone home on Salma's advice. As Marcus nodded, Hanson opened his mouth to ask him the question he'd been bouncing around in his head, but was interrupted by a boom of obnoxious laughter.

"So it _is_ true! You've really become a slut living off of singles!" Everyone turned to see two girls and a group of guys in the doorway. Hanson immediately recognized the girls as the one's he'd been stuck behind the day before. Seeing the anger flicker brightly in Salma's eyes, Marcus slid a protective arm over her shoulders and squeezed her in a quick partial hug. "You brats got business with my Sal?"

One of the boys stepped closer, obviously ignoring Marcus. "Laura...lookin good. How much?" The other boys and the two girls laughed and talked over each other as they offered possible prices. Hanson kept his eyes on the girl as he processed that Salma was the name she used here for work and Laura must be her real name. Laura did not move, not a finger. She simply glared at the boy, a warning in her eye.

Another boy stepped forward, seeing that she refused to respond, but not seeing the anger rising within her. "If we both pay, do we get a discount?" The group roared with laughter. "Two for one?" Laura opened her mouth to snap at them, but closed it abruptly when Hanson stepped in front of her.

Leaning his foot out he pretended to study the toe of his boot. "It's funny. I didn't know you were so desperate, you had to negotiate for a good time." Pulling his foot back to stand up straight, he looked up at the boys who simply stared back at him. "S'a matter? Cat got your tongue?" He pulled out his wallet and licked his first two fingers before taking out five singles. "Here. Go buy yourselves something pretty."

"You think you're real funny, don't you, new guy?" the first boy said as he hit Hanson's hand, causing the money to fall to the floor.

"Nah. I think I'm a gas," he responded with a smirk as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

The other boy lunged forward with his fist ready to swing, but Marcus stepped in and caught his fist. "Now I -know- you ain't givin my boy Russel trouble. I'd sure hate to have to rough you up for assaulting one of my customers." A light snap of his fingers called forth the bouncer and another large man from the other section of the building. The men stood on either side of Marcus and Hanson, staring the boys down.

Undeniably shaken by the thought of what would happen to them, the boys scoffed. "Psh. We don't need this." The whole group turned and made to leave the club. "We'll see you in school, Russel," one boy said before the door closed.

As soon as they were gone, Marcus turned back to Laura with a reassuring grin. "Never a dull day with you, huh, Sal?" Hanson looked in time to see Marcus's grin break the anger in Laura's look as she smiled back. "Alright, alright. Show's over. Back to work!" With a whistle and a wave of his hand, the waitresses went back to what they were doing before the small commotion. "Nicely handled, Russel," Marcus said, messing up Hanson's hair further. "Knew you two'd be fast friends."

"Take your own advice, won't you, Marcus?" Laura said, taking hold of his arm and pulling him along. "You gotta find a girl to fill Sara's place tonight."

"I'm goin, I'm goin," Marcus said, dragging his feet toward his office.

Hands on her hips, Laura shook her head and clicked her teeth before shouting after him, "I already have one boy to look after, I don't need another!" After a moment, Hanson cleared his throat to get her attention. "Ah! Sorry about that. And thank you."

"No problem." An awkward silence set in as Hanson tried to think of a way to talk to her enough to get her to reveal something about the drug dealer she might be involved with. Suddenly, Marcus's voice rang out, "You idiot! Check the time!"

In an instant, Laura's eyes shot open and she grabbed Hanson's arm to see his watch. "Damn! I forgot!" Before Hanson could say anything to keep her around, she ran into the other part of the building to get to the lockers. Purse in hand, she ran back passed him, calling back, "See you tomorrow, Marcus!" Hanson looked around, feeling like his head was spinning after the way she hustled passed him. The feeling of Marcus using his shoulder as a crutch to lean on brought him back.

"That's our Sal. Always busy." Standing up straight again, Marcus shouted, "Alright! You don't gotta go home, but you sure as hell can't stay here! This part of business is closed! Head on home kids, it's a school night." With a heavy smack, Marcus patted Hanson's back. "Come by anytime, kid. You're good people. Now git."

Trudging along with heavy footsteps, Hanson made it over to his car, falling into the driver's seat with a thud. He let his head fall back against the headrest as he sighed. No progress. At least he knew she would be there again tomorrow and that it wouldn't be weird for him to show up since the owner seemed to like him. Still, after so long without any leads, to walk away from this with nothing to show for it was frustrating. A quiet grunt escaped his lips as he slammed the door shut and stuck the keys in the ignition. Resting his arm out the window as he cruised along down the almost entirely empty streets, he glanced out at the sidewalk and almost came to a screeching halt when he saw Laura. Walking beside her at thigh height, holding onto her hand tightly, was a young boy, about four or five years old by the looks of it. Hanson slowed down slightly to get a good look. Was that why she wasn't in school anymore? She had given birth? But she looked so young. Speeding up again as they turned the corner, Hanson ran his hand through his hair and over his face. He just wanted this case wrapped up as soon as possible, but something inside him knew it just wasn't going to be that simple. No matter how much he wanted it to be a straightforward drug case, he could tell things were going to get hairy. It was just a matter of when and how much. After pulling in to the parking lot behind Jump Street Chapel, he turned the engine off and rested his forehead on the steering wheel before summoning the energy to go up and report to Fuller before heading home to plan out how he'd go about visiting Bada Bing again the next day. It had to be casual. He couldn't give himself away. That was his least favorite part of the job: the waiting, the patience, the finesse required. All things he was terrible at. "Deep breaths, Tom. It'll be over before you know it."


	2. Two Steps Back

Throughout the classes leading up to the last one of the day, all Hanson did was focus on what he'd do when he went to Bada Bing again. Although he wanted to immediately ask Laura about the boy she had been walking with, he knew that was a sure-fire way to get her to close herself off and run before he could get even a sliver of information out of her. No. He had to play it just right. It was clear by the way she carried herself that she had been through a lot more than most kids her age could ever imagine and that meant Hanson would have to do a hell of a lot to get passed the walls she had learned to keep up to protect herself. At least he had Marcus on his side and it was obvious that Marcus was close to her so it wouldn't be as difficult as it otherwise would be to earn her trust.

On his way out of the last class, Hanson was facing the scuffed up tiled floor as he ran through the best possible things to say first when entering Bada Bing later. Distracted by his thought, he failed to notice a group of boys approaching him, the same group of boys that had come by to harass Laura. "Hey, Russel!" Hanson looked up in time to see one of the two boys who had done the main harassing, stepped close to him and lay his hand on the wall beside Hanson's head, leaning there. "You know, Russel, we didn't appreciate your little hero/tough guy act yesterday." The other boy, presumably the first boy's lackey, leaned his shoulder on the wall on the other side of Hanson, crossing his arms as he did so. "Allow me to offer you a little friendly advice, Russel." The boy cleared his throat and rolled his hand in the air as he spoke, "Stay away from our business and you won't get hurt. We clear, chief?"

Hanson had to stifle a chuckle as he fought a smirk and looked up at the boy. "Nah, but I'm sure with a good anti-acne cream, you'll clear up right away."

Angered, the boy brought his fist back to punch Hanson, but having spent so much time in high schools with guys a considerably more threatening, Hanson easily dodged the blow by bending his knees, ducking just low enough to let the boy's fist connect sharply with the wall. Before standing up straight again, Hanson shoved his binder and books roughly into the boy's stomach, causing him to cough and bend over in sudden pain. Trying not to laugh, he saluted the boy and his friends, who were clearly too afraid to try anything, as he started strolling on down the hall. On his way to his car, he passed a group of girls everyone knew as the study bugs, the good girls. The sight of one made him pause. He felt like he'd seen her before, but couldn't quite place where. Shaking his head, he continued on to his car and returned to running through his plan of action for later that afternoon.

Sweeping back his hair with his hands, Hanson made his way to the doors of Bada Bing, walking with a specific nonchalance to convey the feeling that he was just there to have fun and waste some time, certainly not there to gather information on any drug dealers that might be involved with any of the employees. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside, quickly looking around for any sign of Marcus. When he didn't see him, he spotted Laura and was about to approach her when a hand on his shoulder stopped him and almost made him fall back. "Hey, it's Russel!" Marcus's cheerful tone made everyone look around and smile at Hanson. Some even waved. "Russel, my man," Marcus said as he threw his arm over Hanson's shoulders and started walking him over to an empty table, "didn't waste any time comin back here, did ya?" With a quiet laugh he shook his head. "I get it though, man. I get it. I do have quite the flock of beautiful birds workin for me, don't I?" He flashed a proud smile and sat down, motioning for Hanson to take a seat as well. Smiling while still trying to keep an eye on Laura, Hanson took the seat across from Marcus and slouched in such a way that he could surreptitiously glance at Laura from time to time without giving himself away. Marcus had just began rambling to him about something related to finances when a girl came barreling in through the doors and all but fell onto the table. Out of breath, she tried to say something to Marcus, but he stopped her and told her to sit while a waitress went and got her a glass of water. Grinning at the girl as she chugged the glass down, he said, "Now. Would ya calmly say what ya came to say?"

Looking entirely remorseful, the girl said, still somewhat breathlessly, "I'm so sorry I'm late, Marcus. I completely forgot I had a shift today."

"That's it?!" Marcus almost fell back in his chair as he laughed. "Honey, I know you got the busied weeks of your life up ahead. You don't gotta worry about that. That's why Sal started workin every day, remember? Don't stress over _that_!" The girl smiled a bit and looked immensely relieved by his react and reassurance. "Alright, well you're here now. Go ahead and get to work," he said, pretending to be a tough boss. Still smiling broadly, she kissed Marcus's cheek and hurried off to the lockers.

"Honey takes everything so seriously," Laura said, standing behind Marcus and leaning on the side of the back of his chair.

"Hasn't she always?" Marcus asked with a chuckle.

"More so now than before."

"Makes sense." Marcus looked over at Hanson to see his brows furrowed. "You alright there, Russel?"

Hanson snapped his head up quickly and nodded slowly. "Yeah…yeah." Looking back toward the entrance to the other part of the building, he saw Honey walk back out with her waitress uniform on and he knew for sure. Honey was the girl he had stopped to look at on his way to his car after school; one of the good girls. Furrowing his brows again, Hanson thought hard. It didn't make sense. Everyone knew the good girls had money to spare. So why would she be working? Especially at a place like this? And why did Laura know her? From the way it sounded, they had known each other for a long time.

"Honey goes to the same school as you, doesn't she?" Laura asked, breaking Hanson out of his thought process again. He looked up at her and nodded without a word. "You know you can't tell anyone, right?"

"Russel wouldn't do that, Sal. He's good people," Marcus said as he watched Honey go about her work.

"Good people can still hurt others," Laura replied with a stony expression, her eyes fixed intently on Hanson.

After taking a moment to pick the best response, he replied to her, "It's none of my business."

Unconvinced by this, Laura's eyes began to bore holes into Hanson before Marcus spoke up. "Back off, Sal. You gotta have more faith. Trust me on this. When've I ever been wrong?" Reluctantly, Laura stopped leaning on his chair and went back to work. "Don't mind her," he said to Hanson as he signaled for one of the girls to bring them something to drink. "She's got her reasons for being like that." Hanson nodded, his thoughts finally returning to how he would get her to open up, knowing it would be a little harder now that she seemed to distrust him for no reason. Sitting back in the chair and sipping the root beer the waitress had brought by, he formulated a plan. Having Marcus on his side was one thing, but clearly Honey meant something to her, too. If he could get Honey to trust him, he knew things would be a hell of a lot easier on him and bring him closer to wrapping this case up right away.

Hanson sat quietly as Marcus rambled on and on about various things as he wandered into different subjects the more time he spent talking. Fortunately, it wasn't too long before Marcus excused himself to roam about the room and engage different patrons. Left alone at last, Hanson darted his eyes between Laura and Honey from time to time, studying the ways they interacted with each other as well as with their customers. Through this impromptu research, he was able to construct a way to approach Honey in order to build a rapport with her that would show Laura he was someone worthy of being trusted. As he lost himself in thought, he realized he'd finished his drink and raised his hand to get the nearest waitress's attention without looking away from the glass. He didn't look up until the girl asked what it was he was drinking. His eyes locked with Honey's and she instantly dropped the tray of empty glasses she was holding. The shattering crash made everything fall silent. Half panicked, she crouched suddenly and started to pick up the shards. Without hesitating, Hanson got out of his chair and began to help her clean up. "Go get a towel or something," he said to her as he collected the big shards in his hand and dumped them onto the tray.

"But I-"

"Get a towel, Honey," Marcus said as he crouched beside Hanson and started to aid him. "Good man, Russ," he chuckled, sweeping the smaller fragments of glass into his hand as soon as Honey had left to get a towel.

Brows lifted, Hanson glanced up at him. "For what?"

"For keeping her hands safe so the glass wouldn't cut them." Hanson blinked and left his mouth hanging open slightly, making Marcus laugh. "Didn't even realize you did it, huh? I knew I liked you for a reason, Russ." When Honey returned, she apologized profusely as she used the towel to clean up the remainder of the mess. "Hey, hey, calm down. Nobody's mad. Nobody's hurt. It's all good. Ain't it, Russ?"

Getting to his feet, Hanson stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded coolly. "S'no problem." Still not reassured, Honey hurried away with the tray full of glass, obviously agitated.

When it came time for the kid-friendly side of Bada Bing to close, Hanson left and waited out by the doors for Honey to come out. By the time she did, it had gotten so chilly, Hanson was blowing on and rubbing his hands to keep them warm. Using his foot, he pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on and stepped quickly to catch up to her. He called out to her, startling her slightly. At the sight of him, she froze, fear distinct on her face. "What? What do you want?"

"Nothing really," he replied with a small shrug. "Just...We go to school together, don't we?" He watched as she gripped the strap of her bag tightly and offered his best assuring smile. "I knew it! We have English together!" In an attempt to show her he meant no harm, he clapped his hands together and lied. "This is great! I lost my Macbeth book somewhere and can't find it anywhere. Let me borrow yours so I can do the assignment for tomorrow?" Placing his hands together in front of his face he flashed an apologetic smile and closed one eye to appear meeker in front of her. "Please?"

It appeared to work because although she kept a tight grip on her bag, she fidgeted with it before nodding slightly. "Alright. My apartment's this way."

She had already begun to walk away when Hanson said quickly, "Wait! I got a car. I'll give you a lift as an early thank you." Honey paused for a minute to think it over before she nodded again and followed him back to his Mustang. As they drove to her family's apartment, Hanson struggled to make small talk with her, but to no avail. The most he could get out of her was only ever a curt response with no interest.

"I'll grab the book and bring it out to you," she said without looking at him as she climbed out of the car and headed up the stairs to her apartment on the second floor. In the few minutes it took her to return, Hanson rapped his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to decide if he'd made any progress or scared the girl unintentionally. The quiet thump of the play hitting the passenger's seat alerted him to her presence. Pulling her coat tighter around herself, Honey motioned to Macbeth. "You can give it back in English. I made some notes in there that might help you, too. Just don't copy them word for word or anything."

"Thanks," he responded softly as he flipped through it, going back to the inside of the front cover when he was done. "Vanessa," he read aloud before looking up at her. "That's your real name?" A sudden flash of panic returned to her eye so he added quickly, "You don't have to worry about anything, you know. About that place. I won't tell anyone. Scout's honor." He nodded in a mock-serious manner.

Smiling a bit, Vanessa relaxed. "You were a Boy Scout?"

"No...but I did used to steal their lunch money." She laughed quietly, making him smile. "See you in English." Nodding, she waved a little and headed back up to her apartment. Just before Hanson turned the keys to drive away, he heard her call down to him. "What?"

"Thanks for the ride!"

Smiling again, he hollered loud enough for her to hear. "No problem! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" Proud of himself, Hanson turned on the radio and sang along boisterously as he drove back to Jump Street to report to Fuller.

The next day, upon entering his English class, Hanson immediately scanned the room looking for Vanessa. Scratching his head as he lingered in the doorway, he wondered why he didn't see her. Normally she arrived before he did. A gentle tap on the shoulder blade made him look over his shoulder. "You're kinda in the way, you know," Vanessa said with one eyebrow raised and a faint smile. Hanson quickly stepped aside to let her pass and followed her to her seat.

"Thanks for lending this to me," he said, lightly tossing Macbeth on her desk as she set her bag down.

"No problem. Was it helpful?"

"Yeah. A lot, actually. Your notes really made things clearer. I think I kinda like Shakespeare now."

She smiled at him. "I'm glad. All it takes is time and a little patience."

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly good with either," he admitted with a soft chuckle.

Before Vanessa could respond, an obnoxious snort cut her off. The boy who had tried to hit Hanson the day before strode over and wiped his mouth as he said, "Well would you look at this? The pauper's tryin to get the princess!" His group of flunkies laughed loudly.

"Knock it off, David," Vanessa said coldly, much to Hanson's surprise.

"What? You tellin me you -like- talkin to this tattered thing?"

"His clothes may not be as sharp as his mind, but at least he doesn't need dodos flanking him at every turn so he can feel secure," she snapped back calmly. David set his jaw and was about to say something when the teacher walked in and instructed everyone to take their seats.

After class, Vanessa waited for Hanson to exit the classroom so she could apologize. "Those guys are idiots. Don't let them get to you. It's not worth it."

"Thanks. You know, I'm just surprised you stood up for me," he said, meaning no harm.

"Why?" Vanessa stopped walking. "Because you assumed I'd be like the superficial girls who are always around me?"

Hanson blinked and he slowed down before walking back to her. "I didn't mean anything by that."

"I'm sure you didn't." She started walking again. "I'm not stupid, you know. I know they only talk to me because I'm smart."

"That can't be true." He paused for a moment. "You're nice, too." Seeing she wasn't going to respond, he sucked on the inside of his cheek and asked, "You got a shift today?"

Vanessa froze for a moment, then pulled him quickly into a nearby empty classroom. "You said you wouldn't talk about that!" she hissed.

As though by reflex, Hanson put his hands up. "Sorry. I thought it was ok since I wasn't specific." Clearly tense, Vanessa just looked at him before leaving the class with quick steps. Sighing, Hanson sat on the desk behind him. "One step forward, two steps back..."


	3. A Lie

Marcus's chuckle woke Hanson up from his thought-stupor. "Hm? What? What's so funny?"

"You know, if you stare any harder, you're gonna burn a hole through her," he said before taking a sip of his beer.

Removing his chin from his hand and his elbow from the table, Hanson cleared his throat and turned his attention to Marcus. "I don't know what you mean."

"Sure ya don't, Russ," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Hey, don't sweat it, man. Honey's a pretty girl, I get it. I remember being your age. Want some advice?" Before Hanson could refuse, Marcus kept on talking. "She's got a lot on her plate. Always taking on more than she can handle. You want to impress her? Help her out. Be there. Know what I mean?"

Hanson blinked at him blankly. "Not really."

Marcus opened his mouth to explain again, but Laura's voice stopped him. "Marcus, you got a situation in the back." With an exasperated sigh, he excused himself and got up to take care of it. When he was gone, Laura sat down in his seat and looked seriously at Hanson, almost glaring. "Why do you come here everyday?"

"I like it here," he answered, partially concerned she was getting suspicious of his motives.

"No, you like staring at my friend," she said in what was close to a growl. "You got a problem with her?"

"No problem," he replied as he leaned back in his chair, relieved that she had misunderstood. "She interests me."

"_Interests _you," she repeated coldly. "Why does she _interest _you?"

He put his arms up on the table and leaned toward her. "Because she hangs out with the rich crowd, but doesn't have much money. Because one second she's looking at me like I'm the plague and the next she's my new pal. Because her mood can change so quickly it makes my head spin."

His eyes widened when he saw Laura suddenly smile at him. A true, genuine smile like the ones she gave Marcus. "Yeah. That's her, alright. Her dad calls her his 'Little Firecracker.' She's always been all over the place. Jumping from one thing to the next." She turned away from him to search the room for Vanessa, smiling wider when she found her. "She's my best friend, you know." After a short pause she looked back at him, seriously but not threateningly like before. "Do you like her?"

A minute passed as Hanson only looked back at her, weighing the pros and cons of his possible responses. Finally, he took a short, deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. I kinda do."

Laura reached across the table and took his hands in hers as she kept her eyes locked with his. "You promise me, if she gives you the chance, that you'll treat her right. Promise me that."

Taken aback by her actions, he nodded without thinking. "I promise."

"I didn't know you two were so close," Vanessa said, causing the two to look up quickly and see her standing beside the table.

"Oh shut up," Laura laughed, taking her hands back and standing up. "You know it ain't like that."

"Sure," Vanessa said with a raised eyebrow. Gasping quietly, Laura smacked Vanessa's butt with her empty tray. "I'm playin! I'm playin! Calm down," she said while waving her hands at Laura. Once Laura had walked away, Vanessa ran her hand through her hair awkwardly before mumbling, "Look, Russel, I'm sorry for how I acted the other day."

"How about the way you've been ignoring me?" he asked while batting his eyelashes.

She smiled a little and rolled her eyes. "Ok. I'm sorry for that, too."

"And how about-"

Lightly, she hit the top of his head with her tray. "Russel!"

"Ok, ok," he chuckled. Then, rubbing his hands down his thighs, he asked, "Hey, we got a test comin up, right?"

Vanessa looked up as she thought. "Next…Tuesday, yeah."

"You got a shift tomorrow?"

"I do."

"Wanna study after?"

Hanson could feel his heartbeat slow nervously, anxiously looking up at her as she looked down at him, thinking. "Alright. Sure. Why not? It's Friday so I got time."

He clapped his hands together a little too excitedly and had to clear his throat awkwardly right after. "Well alright. Cool." Smiling and nodding, Vanessa started to walk away, but he stopped her by calling out, "Hey, you want a lift home after work?"

"No need. I'm staying over at Laura's tonight. Thanks though."

A little disappointed, Hanson turned back to see Marcus sitting across from him again, a grin plastered on his face. "What?" Marcus just laughed in response, shaking his head.

The next morning, before heading to school, Hanson checked in at Jump Street as was procedure. On his way out the door, Fuller stopped him. "Still no progress, Hanson?"

Puffing out a deep breath, Hanson turned around to face his captain and rocked back on his heels. "A bit, Coach." Seeing the expression on Fuller's face as he crossed his arms, Hanson added quickly, "But I've got it all under control. If I can get the best friend to trust me, the girl will lighten up and I'm sure I'll get the information I need. It won't be much longer."

"I hope not. For your sake," he responded curtly before heading back to his office.

When Hanson got to school, he almost walked right passed a group of girls all huddled in a circle near the lockers. Normally, he would have dismissed the little congregation as some sort of unusual female gathering, but he stopped in his tracks the moment he heard Vanessa say, "Guys, seriously. It's not that big a deal. I tripped on my way down the stairs and hit the corner of the wall. It's happened before." Entirely disregarding how rude it was, Hanson pushed passed the girls to get the center. He felt an anger brew within him at the sight of Vanessa's healing split lip. Although she was in the middle of talking, she closed her mouth the second she saw him. The entire group of girls went silent as they watched the two simply look at each other. Somehow, it felt as though they were communicating without words. Setting his jaw and shaking his head, Hanson turned around and pushed back away from the girls, storming on down the hall to his first class. No wall could do that. He'd seen injuries like that before. Someone hit her. Some lowlife piece of scum hit her. So full of anger, he did not hear a word of what his teacher said for the first few classes. He couldn't focus on anything but the memory of how bad her lip looked.

By the time lunch rolled around, Hanson was so caught up in the thought of what happened to Vanessa that he immediately went to look for her when the bell signaling the end of class rang. Weaving through the crowds of students, he entered the cafeteria and swept his eyes over the sea of lunch tables. The moment he spotted her, he navigated his way over as quickly as he could, knocking into a few students. Vanessa didn't see him until he all but slammed his hands down on the table, standing across from her. Her friends all shut up and looked at him, a little shocked. Ignoring everyone's reactions, Hanson said in a sharp tone, "Can we talk?"

"Sounds more like a demand than a question," she answered emotionlessly.

"Vanessa!" he shouted without meaning to, not quite in full control of his emotions. Hearing his own loud voice ring in his ears, he looked down and calmed himself before speaking quietly. "Please. I need to talk to you." Looking up again, he stared straight into her eyes, showing that he wasn't going to leave unless she came with him.

"Fine." Not bothering to take her things with her, Vanessa got up and followed him out of the cafeteria and out onto the lawn on the side of the school where there were fewer people around to hear them. "What do you want, Russel?"

"Who did that to you?"

Hugging herself slightly, Vanessa didn't show much of a reaction to his straightforward inquiry. "What are you talking about?"

Frustrated, Hanson bit his lip and nodded, placing his hands on his hips. "You know what I'm talking about. That lip. Who did that to your lip?"

"No one," she said slowly, looking right into his eyes as if challenging him.

"Don't give me that," he growled through gritted teeth. "I know a split lip from a punch when I see one. I've caused enough to know that it even came from a right hook. _Who did it_?"

"Why do you care so much?" she snapped.

Hanson fell quiet. He didn't know what to say. One of the things that had always gotten to him more than anything was the mistreatment of women. They just stared at each other stubbornly for the longest time before he said, "My sister's boyfriend used to beat her." He had never told such a pure lie before, but something told him this was the course to take. As it turned out, he was right. The look on Vanessa's face softened so he continued. "I couldn't stand to see it, but she wouldn't let me do anything about it. It got worse and worse, but she said it wasn't my business. I wasn't allowed to lift a finger no matter how much I wanted to. It was forever before I realized she said that so I wouldn't get hurt." To add to the affect, he turned away from her and bowed his head, exhaling loudly.

"Where is she now?" Vanessa asked in a small voice, somewhat timidly.

"Dead," he said as matter-of-factly as he could to feign suppressed pain as he'd seen victims do countless times. "Because I couldn't protect her." His eyes widened instantly when he felt her slide her arms under his and hug him from behind.

"It's not your fault! You were just a kid, right? There's nothing you could have done anyway. Not since she refused to leave him."

Feeling guilty for having lied so much to her and having caused her to react that way, he swallowed hard before resting his hands on his stomach over hers. "I know. People've been telling me that for years now. Doesn't make it any easier though." He waited a little bit before asking quietly, squeezing her hand a little. "Is someone hurting you?"

Shaking her head, Vanessa let go of him and sighed heavily. "Not me."

Hanson turned around and looked at her with compassion. "Laura." She nodded solemnly. "How'd you get hit?"

"I stepped in front of her last night." Her lower lip wobbled and her voice cracked as she went on, "One punch and I was down. She gets beaten _every day_ and I could hardly take one hit for her." Fighting tears, she wiped at her eyes and hugged herself tightly. "I wish she would just leave that place. She doesn't need them. Her and Ricky could come live with me and my dad. Why won't she just leave?"

The pleading tone in her voice broke Hanson's heart. "Ricky is…her son?"

Vanessa scoffed disdainfully. "People always think that because she's not some high class snob. No. Ricky was a little boy she took in from a crack addict mother we passed on the street one day."

"Just like that? How old was she?"

She shrugged. "I don't remember. It's been so long since. It wasn't that bad though. Her mother was around back then. It was before they got evicted. Before everything turned to shit and I almost lost my best friend. And now I might lose her again because that bastard thinks he can take out his frustrations on her." Hanson didn't know what to do. He felt awful watching her cry because how his lie had further spurred her fears, but he couldn't think of anything to say or do. "Please don't tell anyone, Russel. Laura can't know I told you. Please."

He tried to smile at her as best he could. "I won't tell a soul. And hey, it'll be alright. I promise you. Everything'll be alright."

During the rest of his afternoon classes, Hanson spent his time trying to come up with a way to get Vanessa to take him to see Laura. He went through every possibility, but in the end, gave up on each and every one. It was too soon to request something like that. As much as he hated it, he knew he'd have to wait a little longer. All he could do was hope and pray that Laura would be ok. In the meantime he'd have to work on getting Vanessa to tell him more about the situation. Pressing would ruin everything. It had to be natural. Even though it hurt to see the pain it caused her to talk about Laura's situation and her past, he needed to get the case wrapped up and she was the key to doing so quickly. This really was turning out to be one of his least favorite cases. One of the ones he wished he had never been assigned to.

Later that day, as soon as Hanson walked into Bada Bing, he was greeted by the waitresses right by the doors and one called out to Vanessa who came right over as soon as she'd served her customer his food. "Hey," she said in a slightly melancholy tone.

"Hi." Hanson looked around and his suspicions were confirmed: Laura wasn't at work today.

"She's ok," Vanessa said, noticing the way he was surveying the room. "I saw her before I came in to work. She looks bad, but…she's ok." He nodded as they walked over to a table. "Hey, could we make a quick stop before going to study?"

"Sure. Of course. Where to?"

"Ricky's daycare. I promised Laura I'd pick him up if she promised to stay in bed and rest," she answered, fidgeting with the tray in her hands.

Was this his chance? Picking up Ricky didn't necessarily mean he'd get to see Laura, but it was an undeniable chance. He tried to agree without appearing too eager. "Of course that's no problem. Little kids love me."

Vanessa wrinkled her nose a little. "Why don't I believe that?"

"Hey," he said, a little offended.

She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Calm down. It was a joke."

He pretended to swat at her hand. "Hey, you got used to me pretty quickly, didn't you?"

"Did I?" Blinking, she thought about it. "Well…I like people. And you're like every person I grew up with. And Marcus likes you. You're good people," she shrugged. Her words gave him a stabbing sensation in his heart. Good people don't plan to lead innocent girls on to get information. Good people don't let girls get beaten because if they revealed themselves too soon, it would ruin their case. He wasn't good people. He was a terrible, awful person hiding behind the excuse that it was all for the purpose of wrapping this case up.

For the rest of Vanessa's shift, Hanson sat staring at glass after glass of soda, wishing it would turn to beer. If Marcus wasn't such an unusual good guy who refused to sell alcohol to minors, he would have just bought a real drink instead of imagining he had one. There had to be something he could do for Laura. Maybe Judy would know. She was always ready to jump in and protect a woman in trouble. Judy should have been assigned this case. She would have figured everything out by now.

"Ready to go?" Vanessa asked, cocking her head to the side as she watched Hanson stare intensely at his glass.

"Huh? Yeah. Yeah. Let's go." Although Vanessa said it would be fine if they walked to pick up Ricky, Hanson insisted they take his car because the nights were pretty cold even though it was spring. As soon as they reached the daycare, Vanessa got out and waited by the little front gate for him to come running out. The boy stopped for a moment halfway, surprised to see Vanessa instead of his mother, but he went right on running toward her after. She picked him up in her arms and spun him around with a grin, asking how his day was. He began to rattle off all the things he had done and seen while she opened the door and buckled him in to the backseat. In the middle of one of his sentences, he looked away from Vanessa and immediately shut up at the sight of Hanson. Awkwardly, Hanson smiled and waved at him.

"This is my friend, Ricky. His name is Tommy. Don't you have a friend named Tommy?" This simple introduction from Vanessa was enough to relax the boy and he waved back at Hanson before rambling on and on about his friend Tommy who ate a worm the other day and threw it up on the daycare lady's shoe.


	4. Good People

Vanessa pressed her finger to her lips as she unlocked the door to the apartment, reminding Ricky to be quiet when they go inside. Motioning with her hand to move quickly, Hanson kept his hand on Ricky's back so he'd walk a little faster. As quietly as she could, Vanessa shut the door behind them and took Ricky's hand before guiding them through to the bedroom Laura and Ricky shared. On their way through the living room, Hanson took notice of a few bodies fast asleep on the couch, the coffee table, and the floor, but kept his questions to himself. Softly, Vanessa rapped on the bedroom door and waited to hear a soft groan before opening it. "Laura," she whispered, "Ricky's here." As soon as he saw Laura, Ricky ran up and jumped into the small bed beside her and started whispering to her the same things he had told Vanessa and Hanson during their drive over. Hanson watched as Laura sat up and mouthed her thanks to Vanessa who smiled and waved quickly before closing the door again. It was only for those short few seconds that he saw Laura's face, but it was enough to etch the image into his brain. The black eye that was swollen shut and the split lip with remnants of dried blood around it, the bruises on her face and arms. All of it stayed vivid in his memory as he followed Vanessa back out to his car. If he hadn't known the girl lying in that bed was Laura, he never would have guessed it. Over and over again he blinked, but he couldn't shake the haunting hues of the blue and purple bruise around her eye. It made him sick to think about it. To think that anyone could do something so horrible to a woman was unbelievable. And yet, it happened everyday all over the world. Every time he saw a woman treated that way, Hanson just couldn't fathom how anyone could think it was ok to do it. Didn't they have any emotions? Didn't they see what they were doing? The pain they were causing? "Russel?" He snapped his head up at the sound of Vanessa's voice to see they had already reached his car. "You ok?"

"Yeah." First he shook his head, and then he began to nod instead. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Seeing her…made you remember something you didn't want to, huh? I'm sorry. You should have stayed here. You didn't have to come up." The look of remorse on her face hurt him.

"It's fine. I told you. I'm fine," he repeated as he unlocked her door and went around to the driver's side.

Neither of them said another word until they reached Vanessa's home. As they climbed the stairs to the second floor of apartments, she said, "It's just me and my dad and he works a lot so he might not be home, but in case he is, just…I don't know…be wary, I guess. He's always been that overprotective dad and after Mom passed away, it just got worse. He'll probably give you a hard time or accuse you of stuff just cuz you're a guy, but he's really not that bad. As long as you're an honest person, it'll be fine." Hanson laughed a little as he thought, "Right. I'll just be honest. 'Hello, Mr. Perez. I'm here to use your daughter to gain information on a drug dealer.'" "What's so funny?" she asked, stopping in front of the apartment door.

"Nothing. I'm just a weirdo," he answered with a smile.

Raising her brows and tilting her head slightly from side to side, she unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding the door open for Hanson to pass her so she could lock it again before closing it. "Papa! I'm back! You here?" she hollered before stepping out of her shoes and motioning for Hanson to do the same. When she didn't get an answer she waved for Hanson to follow her. "Guess he won't be back until later then. That's ok. You want anything to drink? Eat?"

Lifting his hand to refuse, he shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm good."

Vanessa nodded and shuffled off her jacket as she headed down the hall. "My room's this way."

Hanson froze for a second. "Your…bedroom? Won't your father kill me?"

"We _would_ study in the kitchen, but the light went out the other day and we haven't gotten a new one yet."

"What about the living room?"

"It's full of my dad's crap." She turned around quickly and furrowed her brow at him. "Russel, you do realize we're just studying, right? My dad will be suspicious of your intentions no matter where we go. Calm down, would you? If I liked you like that, you'd know it." With that, she turned back again and walked into her room, tossing her bag on the floor beside her bed.

"Hey, you can't blame me for being cautious," he said, stepping into her room and taking a careful look around.

"Oh, right. Because obviously I've been dying to get you alone so I could ravage you." She tossed a notebook on the bed and sat down beside it, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"Hey, it's happened before," he said almost defensively.

Flipping through the pages, she nodded at him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it has. Ah! Found it! Here. I took these notes the other day in class when she was going over the key points of the play." She handed the notebook to him, pointing to one line in particular. "She kept saying that over and over so I figured it must be important, right?"

"Right," he repeated absentmindedly as he sat down beside her, somehow mesmerized by her thorough notes. "Ok, wait. See this part? I didn't get this part. I mean, I know what she was saying, but I don't see how she got there, you know?"

Vanessa scooted closer to get a better look at her notes. "Which part?"

"This pa…part," he replied, noticing how close she was and focusing on her split lip. The more he looked at it, the more he wondered how much blood had been spilt. He wondered how painful it had been. Then he wondered if anything like that had happened before. Had she been hit trying to protect Laura before this? Was it worse? Did she ever end up looking like Laura?

"Russel, are you sure you're ok?"

"Huh?" Snapping back to the present, he shook his head and pouted his lips out of a second. "I'm completely fine. Why?"

"Russel, I was talking for a good minute and you weren't paying attention at all."

"Yeah. Sorry. I got…distracted." Setting the book down, Hanson got back to his feet and ran his hand through his hair as he realized this was a perfect opportunity.

"By what? The many fascinating wonders in this run down apartment?" she scoffed.

"No." He took a deep breath and prayed this would sound convincing. "I'm distracted because I'm alone…in a bedroom…with a girl I happen to have a thing for." Hanson could _feel_ Vanessa's jaw drop as she stared at his back. Counting slowly in his head, he waited a few seconds before turning around to look at her. Sure enough, she looked completely shocked.

"You…what?" She shook her head. "Now's not the time to joke around, Russel. C'mon, let's get back to studying."

Vanessa picked up her notebook again, but he quickly snatched it from her. "I'm not joking!" Her eyes locked with his as though they were in some kind of silent battle. "You think I go to Bada Bing every day because I enjoy the friendly atmosphere and I just _happen_ to be always looking in your direction?"

"You look at Laura, too."

"Because she's your best friend and I was trying to think of ways to get her to like me so you would." When he realized she wasn't going to respond, he added, "Why do you think I hated seeing this so much this morning?" Slowly, he reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, lifting it slightly to get a good look at her injury. "Just the thought of someone doing this to you pisses me off." He could see in her eyes that she was starting to actually believe his lies and as much as it hurt to think of what he was doing, he knew he had to go on. "The next time Laura's in trouble, call for me. I'll protect her in your place. Your lips," hesitantly at first, he brushed his thumb gently over her bottom lip, "no part of you should get hurt."

An unusual softness to her voice, Vanessa spoke. "Russel…"

"You don't have to like me the way I like you. Just let me be there for you."

"…you should go," she said as she looked away.

Hanson pulled his hand back and nodded. Running his hand through his hair yet again, he turned around and headed out of the apartment. The moment he sat down in the driver's seat of his Mustang, he sighed heavily. Judy. He had to talk to Judy. She'd been in this situation before. She'd know what to say. Turning the car on, he stepped on the gas quickly and sped out toward Jump Street. When he got there, he quickly pulled Judy aside and told her everything. He spoke so quickly she had to remind him to slow down once in a while. Once he'd told her everything he sat back on his desk and clasped his hands in his lap. "What should I do?"

Judy shook her head solemnly. "Sounds like you're doing exactly what you have to, Hanson. I know it's not fun and it makes you feel terrible, but it's what you have to do."

"It's gonna hurt her…isn't it?" he asked, keeping his eyes focused on his hands.

"Probably."

He took a deep breath before asking, "How did you deal with that? How did you handle knowing you were stringing them along like that?"

"I don't know. I really don't. Time made it easier to face, I guess."

In one quick motion, he bowed his head, curling his body downward, as he brought his clasped hands up to his forehead. "These girls are in pain, Judy. You have to help me. You have to help _them._"

She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I can't. I wish I could, but I've got my hands full with my own case. I'm sorry, Hanson."

"Forget about it," he muttered, hopping off his desk and walking quickly passed her.

"Hanson, where are you going?" she called after him.

"I don't know!"

Slamming his car door closed, he pressed his forehead to the horn, letting the sound pierce the quiet night before lifting his head again and heading out into the city, driving around aimlessly. After a while, he parked out by the ocean and sat on a cliff overlooking it, staring blankly at the way the city lights danced on the water's surface. Nothing took his attention away. Not the honking of various horns. Not the shouts of parents and children. Not even the feeling of Booker sitting down beside him. Minutes passed and Booker didn't say anything. Finally, he opened a can of beer and held it out to him. Hanson took it, but did not drink. Shaking his head, Booker opened another can and took a large gulp. More time passed before Hanson finally asked, "What do you want?"

Booker shrugged, taking another drink. "Heard you're having a problem with your case."

"I don't need your help," Hanson said coldly.

"Good. 'Cause I wasn't offering any."

Another silence set in for a long while as Hanson debated confiding in Booker. "A girl fell in love with you while you were on a case."

He cocked his head to the side, lifting his shoulder at the same time. "She was infatuated with the idea of me, yeah. She _believed _she loved me because she was afraid of being alone."

"Did it make you feel like a worthless piece of crap?"

"Yup." Hanson tapped the side of the can as Booker took another long drink. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"She's not the girl you're worried about." Booker looked at Hanson at the same time Hanson turned to face him. "I know how you feel, man. I know what you're thinking. And I know that the last thing you wanna hear right know is some overly repeated, superficial bunk about how you're doing nothing wrong. It's for the case. For the community." He took a deep breath and squeezed the can, denting it slightly. "The truth is…we do a lot of wrong. But what makes us different from the trash we bust is that we don't enjoy it. We will do whatever we can to make up for we've done." He poked Hanson's chest, not averting his eyes for a moment. "_That's _what makes you a good person."

Angry, Hanson threw the can over the cliff and scrambled to his feet quickly. "Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" He started to storm away, so Booker got up as quickly as he could.

"Hanson! Don't do anything stupid!"

"I don't need _you_ to tell me that!"

When Monday rolled around, Hanson didn't feel any better about the situation. He skipped English and didn't go to Bada Bing later as he normally did. During lunch, even though he didn't usually see her then anyway, he went to the least occupied part of the school to avoid seeing her. No matter how many times he told himself he had to do this to catch the dealer that was undeniably responsible for a handful of kids' deaths, he just couldn't bring himself to seek her out. With the way he felt, he planned to do the same on Tuesday, but things didn't quite work out the way he planned. Once school was over, Hanson headed to his car with heavy steps. "You missed the test." The familiar voice made him look up to see Vanessa leaning on his car. Not knowing what to say, he looked down again and fumbled with his keys as he pulled them out of his pocket. "Hey!" She followed him to the driver's side. "So you _are _ignoring me. Why? Because I didn't fall for your lies and let you do what you wanted in my bedroom?"

"It's not like that!" he snapped loudly, angrily, surprising even himself. Frustrated, he folded his arms on the hood of the car and hit his forehead on them, keeping his head there as he fought with himself. "I wasn't lying. I didn't think you wanted to see me."

Anxiously, she clutched the strap of her bag and took a deep breath before saying softly, "I need to talk to you. I don't have anyone else I can talk to about this. Please, Russel. Will you listen to me?"

Hanson lifted his head, slightly alarmed by the tone she had used. Sliding his arms off the car, he nodded quickly. "Of course you can. Get in." He unlocked the door and pulled it open, stepping aside to allow her to slide over to the passenger's seat. "Is there anywhere you wanna go or…?" he asked as he seated himself and pulled the door closed.

"Can we go to your place?"

Normally, Hanson would refuse for fear of her possibly seeing anything there that would give him away as a cop, but when he saw the tinge of fear glimmering in her eyes, he nodded before he could stop himself. "Sure." On the drive over to his place, he glanced over at her once in a while. She fidgeted with her bag, taking deep breath after deep breath. Once they'd arrived and were inside his apartment, he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wall. "What's up?" Without saying a word, Vanessa walked over and slumped down on his couch, shaking her head. Concerned, he followed her, sitting in front of her on the coffee table. "Vanessa, what's wrong?"

"Things were good when we were kids," she blurted, her eyes shining with the start of tears. "We were neighbors. We did everything together. Our parents were friends. But when her dad left…" Her voice trailed off and a tear welled, threatening to fall. "He left them and her mom didn't make enough to keep the apartment. Then she got mixed up with this drug dealer. He got her addicted. Soon enough, he threw her away too and Laura didn't have a home at all. They lived on the streets. And then her mom started sleeping around to get drugs. Laura was left alone so much and I wanted to help her, but what could I do? I was just a kid." Her tears started to fall and Hanson scooted a little closer to her, watching her seriously. "But there was one man her mother _never_ wanted to be with. Damien's uncle." There it was. There was the name he'd been waiting for. Damien. This meant his uncle had to be the man who taught him to be careful about how he dealt. "That bastard _still_ holds a grudge. He beats Laura just because she looks like her mother." She choked for a moment on her tears before she reached inside her bag and hiccupped. "Russel, you couldn't do anything to save your sister, but I can save Laura."

"What are you talking about?" His brows furrowed as he tensed, not liking the sound of that statement. Instead of speaking, she pulled out a pistol from her bag. Hanson leapt to his feet. "Where the hell did you get that? Give it to me!"

"Why?!" she asked, her voice cracking and squeaking.

"I don't want you to do something stupid!" He held his hand out impatiently. "Vanessa, give me the gun!"

"I'm not going to use it! I just want to scare him!"

"It's not that simple! You really think he won't retaliate?! Give. Me. The gun!"

"I can't let him hurt her anymore!"

"I'll take care of it!"

"How?! What can _you_ do?"

After a moment of staring intensely at her, he dug in his pocket and pulled out his ID. "I'm a cop, Vanessa. Give me the gun."


	5. New Beginnings

The two sat in absolute silence, Vanessa on one end of the couch, Hanson on the other. He sat with one arm rested on the arm of the couch, the other down by his side with his hand lying on the gun in his lap. Staring straight ahead, he thought of a million things to say, excuses to make, but he couldn't bring himself to express any of them. When he closed his eyes all he could see was the betrayed look on Vanessa's face when he told her the truth. It hurt more and more each passing second because she hadn't said anything. She hardly reacted at all. Once her eyes had fallen off his face, she had handed him the gun with a heavy hand. If only she were angry. If only she would shout. Vanessa had every reason to yell at him and hate him and wish ill on him, but she didn't. Instead, she was quiet. Her hair covered her face as she kept her head slightly bowed. There was no sign of moment so he figured she wasn't crying. What should he say? What should he do? The longer the silence dragged on the more agitated it made him. The more anxious he felt. Seeing her like this, so quiet and unresponsive, made him sick to his stomach. After all she'd been through, to have someone she trusted betray her like this; he could only imagine the pain she felt. He'd hurt her. "Why haven't you arrested him?" she asked, her soft voice shaking.

He shifted to look at her as he answered, "I can't. Not yet."

"Why not?" She whipped her head around to glare at him, a mix of anger, confusion, and pain on her face. "Don't you see what he's doing to her?"

"I do! But I can't make a move until I get Damien for selling dope."

She stood up quickly, throwing her bag at him. "Fuck Damien!"

Shoving the bag away, he stood up after her. "He's the only reason I went undercover!"

"And what if Laura dies?" she screamed.

"There's nothing I can do! My hands are tied!"

"Then give me back my gun!" she shouted as she lunged toward his side of the couch where he'd let the fall when he stood up.

Catching her in his arms, he held her back. "I can't do that!"

"Why?!" she shrieked as she struggled to get free before feeling weak and starting to sink.

Hanson sank to the floor with her, still holding her tightly so she couldn't suddenly lunge again. "I can't let you do something so stupid. You'll only make things worse. I'm sorry." Desperately, she beat her fist against his chest, resting her forehead on his shoulder as she cried. "Vanessa, I need you to trust me. Please."

"Just because you don't pull the trigger," she lifted her head enough to look into his eyes, anger shining in hers, "doesn't make you any less of a murderer." Taking advantage of his shocked state, she wrestled out of his hold and left the apartment before he could say anything.

Hanson didn't move from that spot. He didn't even get up to have dinner or go to bed. He sat there and thought about what Vanessa said. Her words rang in his ears, battering his emotions as he reflected on everything. If something happened to Laura, it would be his fault. Her blood would be on his hands. Who was worse? The man who beat her? Or the man who let her be beaten? Why couldn't things be perfect like in the Saturday morning cartoons? Why couldn't the hero always triumph over evil and save the day? All Hanson wanted was to be like his father. He became a cop just for that reason. He wanted to protect people, to risk his life to save people, to uphold the law and put away the scum of the Earth. Why was that so much easier to say than do?

The next day, Hanson called in sick. There was no way he could face her if he went to school. He paced around his apartment, playing the scene from the day before over and over again in his head. He thought of all the things he could have done differently, all the things he could have said, all the things he shouldn't have said.

Wiping his face with his hands, he slumped back onto the couch and groaned. There was no use in wanting to run away. Now that he knew for sure the guy he was after was the guy Laura was living with, he had to find a way to set up a buy. First things first. His job came first. Emotions weren't allowed to cloud his judgment. Damien was his goal. Once he pulled himself together, he called a guy at the school he knew must be one of Damien's guys. It wasn't easy, but after a bit of talking he got the guy to arrange a meeting with Damien for the next day for the purchase of a kilo. Only Damien was allowed to handle that big a sale so he could keep all the profits instead of giving some goon a percentage. Even though Hanson was now so close to busting Damien he could taste it, the taste was bitter and unsatisfying. As soon as he had Damien, he'd have someone pick up the uncle. If he didn't, he'd never forgive himself. It didn't matter to him if they could get him on drug charges. All that mattered was that he got put behind bars where he could never hurt Laura again. She could get help. There were dozens of places in the city she could go.

Despite being distracted when the time came, Hanson played his part smoothly. Damien didn't suspect a thing. The buy and bust went down like clockwork, like it was scripted. The idiot was so infatuated with idea of how much money he was making that he didn't suspect Hanson in the least. If it were like any other case, Hanson would have reveled in the look on the kid's face when he had the police officer ID flashed in his face, but it wasn't like any other case. All he could think about was Laura. Well, Laura and Vanessa. He wanted to do right by them as soon as possible. When he told Fuller about Laura's situation, he called the branch that was meant to deal with that kind of case, and was told they'd send a unit out first thing tomorrow to pick the guy up. Hanson didn't like that, but he couldn't argue. Seeing how affected he was, Fuller ordered him to go home and get some well-deserved rest.

Hanson was so distracted on his way home that he almost drove right through a red light. When he got out of his car he accidently shut his door on his coat and got stuck for a moment before he realized it. Once in his apartment, he took out a beer and downed it in one long chug. He couldn't get his heart to stop racing. Was it tomorrow yet? Why didn't the system work faster? Just as he was about to lie down, a pounding knock on his door startled him and made him scramble to it, wrenching it open as soon as his hand touched the knob. The second it opened, Vanessa pushed her way through, knocking into him. Pulling back a little to see who it was, he saw the sweat that made her shirt cling to her and the paleness of her face. Her trembling hands clutched his shirt and her eyes were wide with fear. "Hanson! Help her! You have to help her! Hurry! Please! I'm begging you!"

Head spinning in confusion, he held onto her arms to try and calm her down. "What are you talking about? What happened?"

"Laura! Ricky called me! He was crying! He said there's so much blood! Hanson, please!"

Wasting no time, he grabbed his gun and pulled her along after him, hurrying down to his car as quickly as his feet would carry him. He sped out of his parking spot, racing through the city to where Laura lived. As he drove, he kept readjusting his grip on the wheel, digging his nails into the leather cover as he willed the car to move faster. Upon arrival, he swung the Mustang into a parked position by the curb, throwing open his door and shouting for Vanessa to stay behind. When she hollered back in protest, he told her to call for backup then. As he ascended the stairs toward the apartment, he yelled out Fuller's number. She raced to the nearest apartment and banged on the door, screaming for the resident to let her inside so she could call the police. Standing outside of Laura's apartment, Hanson took a deep breath before kicking the door open. He walked in cautiously, his finger hovering by the trigger. With each careful step, he surveyed the scene. There were obvious signs of a struggle. The coffee table was overturned, a few pictures on the wall were now on the floor, there were specks of blood on the wall leading to the kitchen. The closer he got to the kitchen, the more sounds he heard. Turning quickly into the room, he aimed his gun at the man standing over Laura and shouted, "Police! Freeze!" The man froze and turned to look at Hanson. At the same time, Hanson looked down at Laura. He could hardly see her face from the way it was obscured by her bloodied, matted hair. Looking at her chest, he could barely see it rising as she struggled for breath. So caught up in the horror of her appearance, he almost didn't notice when the man came at him, brandishing a pan. Just in time, Hanson ducked and dove for the man's middle, bringing him to the ground with a heavy crash. Sitting on him, he pointed the barrel of his gun at the man's head. "Don't move, dirtbag, or I _will_ shoot you!" A quiet gasp from behind told him that Vanessa had come in despite his wishes. Keeping his eyes on the man, he said calmly, "Vanessa, go get Ricky and make sure he's ok. Did you call?"

"Y-yeah," she squeaked.

"Good. Now go check on Ricky."

It wasn't long before backup and an ambulance arrived. Damien's uncle was taken down to a cell right away while Laura was hurried to a hospital. Hanson stayed with Vanessa and Ricky until a social worker came to take Ricky to a temporary home while Laura was in the hospital. When it was just the two of them, Hanson stayed quiet until Vanessa spoke. "I'm scared."

He looked at her to see she was shaking. "It's over now. Laura'll be ok." Hesitantly, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder.

She hugged him quickly. "Thank you. You saved her. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I was angry and scared." He didn't respond. Instead, he held her close until she finally stopped shaking. Neither of them spoke again after that, not even when Hanson drove her back to her apartment. They just looked at each other before she climbed out of his car and headed home. He waited to hear her door close before driving back home himself, exhausted and desperate for sleep.

Hanson didn't go back to school after that. He had no reason to. Fuller didn't immediately give him a new case so he had a week or so of free time. Part of him wondered if Fuller had done so on purpose since Vanessa would be graduating in a few days. He wanted to see her. Especially after he'd heard that Laura and Ricky were being put into witness protection because Damien's uncle was involved with guys the FBI had been monitoring for a while and Laura had information on them since she'd lived with Damien and his uncle for so long. The only problem was, he didn't know how Vanessa would react to seeing him. He didn't want her to hate him, but he wouldn't be surprised if she did.

When the day of her graduation arrived, Hanson wore a hat to hide his face and stood at the back of the gym the ceremony was being held in. He watched with a proud smile when her name was called in the list of honor roll students. When she was called up to receive her diploma, he clapped the loudest and cheered excitedly, a broad smile on his face. Finally, when all was said and done and the students were free to walk out to their parents, Hanson made to duck out of the gym before Vanessa could spot him, but he froze when he heard her voice ring out over the speakers. "If you think you can leave without congratulating me properly, we aren't friends anymore!" Turning around quickly, he saw her standing by the mic, grinning right at him. "Wait right there! Don't you dare move!" Hanson did as he was told and stayed put while she jumped off the stage and weaved through the crowd of families, heading straight for him. Once she reached him, she stopped a few feet away and lifted her arms, twirling once. "What do you think? Do I look like a graduate?"

A mix of emotions swirled in him, keeping him from responding right away. He was elated to see her not only talking to him, but grinning at him. It was too good a feeling. Nodding, he smiled. "You look great."

Smiling back at him, she stepped up and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I'm glad you came."

Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Laura…"

Vanessa pulled back enough to look at him and held his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her. "Laura is safe. Laura is going to have a new life. A better life. You helped give her that gift. I could never thank you enough for that. I'll miss her, there's no denying that, but I wouldn't change a thing. I owe you a lot, Hanson."

Looking into her eyes, he felt indescribably comforted. As he thought back on everything, she had always been unusually kind to him. Even when he revealed that he'd been lying to her about who he was, she didn't resent him for it. When that guy in their class tried to insult him, she stood up for him even though they'd really only just started to get to know each other. Suddenly, the arms he had around her felt dirty and he immediately pulled them away, laying his hands on her shoulders as he smiled at her. "I'm glad, Vanessa. Don't mention it."

Not noticing his unusual behavior, she clapped her hands together and bounced a little. "Wanna come with me and my dad to celebrate? We're going to a nice little Italian restaurant."

Shaking his head quickly, he apologized. "Can't. I should be getting back to Jump Street soon. Sorry. Wish I could." Although she looked obviously disappointed, Hanson just didn't think it was a good idea.

Even though he still had time off, he headed over to see Fuller as soon as he'd congratulated her and said goodbye. Fuller told him about a case at a local college where there was suspicious behavior surrounding one of the dormitories. He told Hanson that as soon as the summer was over, he was to enroll and go undercover to investigate. It wasn't until he got home that he realized why the name of the college sounded familiar to him. Thinking hard, an image flashed in his mind. An acceptance letter. But where had he seen that letter? The moment it hit him, he fell to the floor, his legs going weak. It was the college Vanessa had been accepted to. He'd seen the letter in her room the day he went over to study. "Great."

Through the summer, Hanson worked with Doug as a security guard at random businesses. The closer it got to the beginning of the school year, the more anxious he grew. A part of him wanted to see her, but another part of him wanted to stay as far away from her as possible. When he thought back to the day of her graduation, he could still remember the feeling of holding her and not wanting to let her go. When he wondered if she still worked for Marcus, he got angry when he thought of horny little boys gawking at her in her cute little waitress outfit. Then when he realized he was picturing her in that little outfit, he'd hit himself, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically. It wasn't right. He was a grown man and she was just a girl. Although it really was only a couple years difference in their ages, he still felt wrong when he found himself wondering what it would have felt like to have kissed her that day in her room instead of brushing his thumb over her lip.

"Hanson. Hanson. Hanson!" Fuller's voice snapped him back to reality. "You ready?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Ready." With a small salute, he walked out of Fuller's office and out of Jump Street on his way to his first day of college. "Deep breaths, Hanson. Maybe she didn't even end up going there. Even if she did, you might not even bump into her. Calm down." After finding a good parking space, he pulled his suitcase out of the trunk and started toward his dorm. As he took a look at a map he'd printed out, he didn't notice a girl walking in front of him and knocked right into her. "Ah! Sorry, I-"

"Hanson?"

"Hey, Vanessa," he sighed, putting on a small smile and cursing his luck.


	6. A Fine Young Gentleman

"Do you have any idea who you're looking for?" Vanessa asked, pushing her last box onto the desk beside her new bed.

"Not even a hint of a clue," Hanson replied in a hushed tone.

Looking over at him, Vanessa saw him leaning back against the wall of her dorm room, head bowed in thought, brow furrowed. "Hey," she walked over and patted his shoulder with a smile. "It's too early in the case to look so troubled…Henderson." She shook her head as she thought of how weird it was to have to call him by yet another last name in order to not blow his cover. "C'mon. I'll help you get settled into your room. We're on the same floor right?" By the time Hanson lifted his head to answer she was already out the door and headed down to his car.

It wasn't the case, per se, that had him troubled. Instead, he was shocked at himself for practically blurting everything when he saw her. He knew he'd done it because he didn't know what to say to her, but to just give her all the details like that was beyond unlike him. Even when he dated Amy and Jackie he'd never told them _every _detail of case. At least, not right off the bat like that. "Look, Vanessa, be sure you're extra careful about the guys you talk to, ok?" he said as he lugged his heaviest box up the stairs. "From the look of things, they're targeting any girl they can."

Pushing passed him with a smaller box in her arms she knocked into his shoulder lightly on purpose and rolled her eyes. "Henderson, have you forgotten where I grew up? I'm not stupid. I know what shady guys look like."

Hanson stopped halfway up the stairs and stared at her intently. "You got in my car the day we talked for the first time."

Vanessa turned around and said matter-of-factly, "You aren't shady."

"I could have been," he said, resuming his climb up the stairs.

"But you weren't and aren't."

"But I _could-_"

"Henderson, if you don't shut up, I will push you down those stairs and don't you even try to ague about that," she snapped with a smile.

Blinking, he swallowed and shut up, not saying another word until they reached his room. Once Vanessa had set the smaller box on top of his larger one, he wiped his brow and watched as she walked over to the window and leaned on the sill as she looked out. The way the late afternoon sun shone in made it appear as though she had a gentle orangey glow around her. It suited her, the warmth of the sun as the day seamlessly flowed from afternoon to dusk, especially at this time of the year. Shaking his head furiously, he rid himself of those thoughts of her. He had to focus. This just wouldn't work. If she was going to distract him this much, he had to make sure to see her as little as possibly while he worked on this case. "Vanessa," he started quickly, but stopped as soon as she spoke.

"I thought maybe you were mad at me for how I called you out at my graduation." Surprised by her words, he didn't respond. "I mean, you know my number and where I live and where I work, but you didn't even try to see me all summer. I know we only met because you were undercover, but I thought we'd become friends." She laughed sadly. "After Laura went away, you became my only friend and when you didn't try to contact me at all I thought I'd done something to upset you."

It was clear in her voice as it shook gently that she'd been worrying over this for quite some time. Hanson knew he had to set her straight. He knew he had to say that as nice a girl as she was, they weren't friends. He had to make it clear that he was a police officer and she was just someone he happened to get tangled up with in a case. He had to do it, but, somehow, he just couldn't and before he knew it, he was saying, "I didn't know if I should. I thought you might be busy getting ready for college and that you might rather spend time with your father. Plus, my work over the summer had me up during the night for so long that I slept most of the days away."

A wide grin plastered on her face, she turned around to face him and beamed. "My dad was barely at home at all because of work. You don't have to be so reserved with friends, Henderson. If you want to see me, come see me. It's simple!"

His heart throbbed painfully. It hurt to think that here was this pure-hearted girl, honestly wanting to be his friend, and there he was guilty of dreaming of holding her countless times. Unable to stop himself, he hit his forehead with his palm and sighed heavily before fixing a smile on and replying, "Ok. I got it."

Before either of them could say anything else, the door opening made them both turn to it with intrigue. In walked Hanson's roommate, a six foot tall Hispanic boy with a gaudy gold necklace around his neck and a baggy, navy blue jacket on. He was laughing with two of his friends when he walked in, but turned quiet the minute he saw Vanessa. The look on his face was one of disbelief. Slowly, he took a step toward her. "No way…"

Curious as to why he looked at her the way he did, Vanessa raised her brow and looked him up and down. "What? Never seen a girl before?"

The boy grinned from ear to ear. "Same old Nessa!"

Replaying the boy's voice in her head, her eyes grew wide quickly. "No way! Scary La-" In a flash, the boy raced forward and covered her mouth, turning to laugh at his friends.

"I'll catch up with y'all later!" His friends nodded and left. The moment they were gone, he turned back to Vanessa, who was smiling deviously at him. "Don't call me that anymore. I'm Junior now."

Trying to keep from laughing, Vanessa sat on Hanson's bed and looked up at Junior. "You will _always_ be Scary Larry to me, _Lawrence_."

Blushing faintly, Junior looked away and finally noticed Hanson's presence. "The fuck are you?"

"The fuck you think he is, dumbass?" Vanessa said. "What, you thought I was here by magic? My friend here's your roommate."

"Tom Henderson," Hanson said, extending his hand toward Junior.

Junior looked at Hanson's hand with distain. "Hey!" Vanessa shouted a little to get his attention. "You play nice. Henderson's a good friend of mine. I'd hate to have to tell all your new little friends how rude you can be, _Larry._"

Smiling a bit, he looked back to her and shook his head. "Vicious Vanessa never died, huh?"

"She went dormant for the good of society," Vanessa responded with a grin as she got to her feet again. "You'll be good to my boy?"

Junior looked Hanson over. "_This _is really your boy?"

She slapped her hand to his back. "Damn right, he is. Who you think I am, huh?"

Draping his arm over her shoulders, he nodded and chuckled. "Ok, I got it." Holding his hand out to Hanson, he nodded once in approval. "If you Nessa's boy, then you're my boy, too."

Distracted by the sight of Junior's arm around Vanessa's shoulders, Hanson almost didn't shake the boy's hand. The image irritated him. He wanted the boy to move away from her. "Well, I gotta get unpacked," she said, slipping away from Junior and heading to the door. "See you guys later?"

"You know it," Junior replied before Hanson could. She smiled at him and turned to leave. Junior turned his head to watch her walk away before the door closed again, biting his lip a little and shaking his head. "Damn," he whispered. Further irritated, Hanson could feel his eye twitch. When Junior looked back at him, he could see the anger clear in Hanson's glare. "What? Like you ain't watched her walk away just to see that ass," he scoffed as he went to lie down on his bed. "Imma say this once kid," he said to Hanson, one eye on him, the other closed. "You ain't got a chance with Nessa. Not while I'm around. Call it a…history advantage," he laughed.

Fighting his impulsive desire to hit Junior, Hanson clenched his fist and gritted his teeth before wrenching the door open and storming down the stairs and out of the dorm to get some fresh air to calm himself down. "What was that again about shady guys, Vanessa?" he snarled quietly to himself.

Later that day, at dinner time, Hanson walked into the dining commons to find Vanessa sitting and eating with Junior and his friends along with some more guys. He was prepared to walk right passed them, but she spotted him and waved him over. The smug look on Junior's face was enough to piss Hanson off so much he almost didn't hear Vanessa tell him to sit on the other side of her. As the guy on her left moved over, he set his tray of food down and glared at Junior. "I thought we wouldn't get to eat together cuz you weren't in the room when I went to get you and Junior."

It took great effort to turn his eyes from Junior to Vanessa. "I was looking around campus."

"Why didn't you come get me?" she asked, hitting his arm lightly. "I wanted to do that, too, but I didn't want to go alone."

Pretending that his arm hurt, he smiled at her. "I'll take you around tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow, buddy. Tomorrow, Nessa and I are gonna look at the clubs they got here," Junior interjected with a smirk, resting his arm over Vanessa's shoulders.

Hanson was about to snap at him, but Vanessa stopped him before he could by looking back at Junior and asking, "You think that'll take all day? You forget that I know you. You ain't gonna join no club here." Then she turned back to Hanson and smiled. "Come with us. We can look around the campus after, yeah?"

Feeling smug, Hanson smiled passed her at Junior. "I'd love to."

"Great!" Vanessa clapped. "Now let's hurry up and eat, I'm tired as hell."

The next day, while they strolled around looking at all the booths set up by the various clubs, Junior kept stealing Vanessa's attention by bringing up things from when they were kids. When it was finally just Hanson and Vanessa, he quickly whispered to her, "I don't trust that guy. Don't spend so much time with him. For all we know, he could be connected to the guys I'm looking for."

"I'm pretty sure he is," she replied without looking at him.

He froze. "What?" Blinking rapidly, he caught up to her quickly, "Then why the hell are you around him so much? What did I tell you?"

Vanessa stopped and looked at him seriously. "I know what you told me, but I didn't agree to it, did I? Look, I know what I'm doing."

"Unbelievable," he scoffed and ran his hand over his face.

Offended, Vanessa put her hands on her hips and rapped her fingers on her jeans. "You don't know those guys like I do. I grew up with those guys. Loyalty and history mean _everything _to them. You think you can just charm your way into their little group? You can't. _I'm_ your ticket in, you got me?"

An anger growing in him, he grabbed her arm and looked her in the eye. "Did you not here a word of what I said? Do you remember what this case is about?"

She stood her ground and answered in a low hiss. "It's a rape case."

His grip tightened involuntarily. "And you think I'm going to let a _female _civilian get involved?"

With a soft growl, Vanessa wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "Fine. If you don't want my help, don't take it." Pissed off, she began to head back to the dorm, her steps heavy with fury.

Frustrated, Hanson groaned and stomped his foot before rushing after her. When he caught up to her again, he asked, "But you aren't going to stop being around that guy, are you?"

"Nope!" she said simply.

Hanson pulled his hair before grabbing her arm again, gently this time. "Fine," he said calmly. "Ok. I get it. I'll let you help me. But you have to promise me _one _thing. You got that?"

Thinking it over, she nodded. "Sure. What?"

"Promise me you'll _never _let yourself be alone with him."

The serious look in his eye, made Vanessa blink. It was more than a warning from an officer. He somehow looked…pleading. "Yeah. Of course. I promise."

"Good," he said with a sigh of relief as he dropped his hand from her arm. "Good."

The next few days passed in relatively the same way. Vanessa would hang out with Junior and Hanson, rekindling the friendship and closeness she used to have with Junior when they were kids. Frequently, Hanson had to remind himself to keep calm when he noticed Junior getting unnecessarily close to her. From time to time, Junior would run his fingers through Vanessa's hair and make comments about how much she'd changed from when they were little. Vanessa would laugh it off and make a snarky remark, but Hanson had to clench his teeth and look away to prevent himself from doing or saying anything.

By the end of the week, Vanessa had managed to get Junior to feel comfortable enough that he invited them to a party at his friend's place out in the city. Hanson's jaw dropped when he saw the way Vanessa dressed for the party. Her low-cut top and miniskirt were so unlike her usual attire that he couldn't help but stare. Seeing him slack-jawed, she laughed and said she had to borrow the clothes from her roommate so they were a little tighter than she felt was comfortable, but if she was going to fit in with the other girls at the party, she knew it's what she had to wear. When Hanson asked her if it was really necessary to dress like that, she scoffed and asked him if he remembered what kind of neighbor she came from. "It's how the girls who hang with those guys dress, Hanson. Trust me. If I showed up to a _party_ dressed like how I normally dress, they'd know right away I wasn't one of them."

Her remark made him look himself over as he drove. "Well, what about me then?"

Trying to not laugh, she reached over and pinched his cheek. "You look fine. Guys dress how they dress all the time. You ain't gotta impress nobody for protection."

"Protection?"

She nodded, looking out at the road ahead. "It's a rough neighborhood, but if you got a man who got presence, power, then you fine."

Hanson watched her. It was always unusual to him when Vanessa's vocabulary regressed to the kind Junior used. He was so used to her educated demeanor that he often forgot she hadn't been raised in that kind of environment all her life. He didn't like it. She felt far away when she spoke that way. Even though she was right beside him, she might as well have been a world away. "We're here," he said as he pulled up a few yards away from the house. They sat and watched more people arrive before getting out and heading into the party.

There were so many people inside the house that Hanson got knocked around a bit before Vanessa grabbed his hand and guided him through the dancing crowd and over to where people were just standing and talking. It would have been a nice moment for him had she not been laughing at him the entire time. For a few minutes, they stood in a corner while she explained to him how he should act if someone came up to him and tried to start something. In the middle of her explanation, Junior came up and greeted them. Hanson gripped the drink in his hand when he noticed the way Junior focused on Vanessa's chest as they talked. Junior waved to a guy a few feet away, beckoning him over. Being completely ignored, Hanson turned to look out and survey the scene. As he did so, a pair of girls in so little clothing they might as well have been naked came up to him. They stood on either side of him and played with the buttons on his shirt as they flirted with him. Uncomfortable and trying to eavesdrop on Vanessa's conversation in case anything important was said, Hanson desperately tried to ignore the girls. Just when he was about to ask them to leave him alone, Vanessa pushed passed Junior and pulled a girl away by her hair. "Look, bitch," she snarled, lip curling angrily, "Imma say this _one _time, ya got me?" She released the girl's hair and grabbed Hanson by his shirt collar, pulling him close to her. "_This_," she pointed to Hanson, pressing her finger to his chest, "is _my_ man. Claro?" The two girls muttered to themselves about how he should have said something and it wasn't their fault as they scurried away.

Junior's friend doubled over with laughter. "My kinda woman! What's yours is yours!"

Junior glared at Hanson, prompting him to smirk triumphantly and wrap his arm around Vanessa's waist as she grinned at the laughing man. "You know how it is out here, Chico. Gotta make sure people know what's up."


	7. A Little More Faith

Exhausted, Vanessa fell onto Hanson's bed and sighed. With a quiet groan, she rubbed her eyes and asked, "How long were we there for?"

Resting back against the wall as he stood by the door, Hanson watched her as well as he could in the moonlight that flowed in from the window. "Some hours."

"Man, that made me tense. A few times I thought I was gonna blow it and they'd know I didn't belong in their world." Suddenly, she sat up. "Hey! You owe me for saving your ass!"

Hanson furrowed his brow and stepped toward her. "What? When?"

"When those girls were trying to flirt with you."

Trying to not laugh, he rolled his eyes. "Oh, right. Thank you for saving me from the woman who found me attractive. Whatever would I do without you?"

Offended, Vanessa stood up and walked right up to him. "You don't get it. Those women are manipulative. At least, the smart ones are. If they so much as _thought_ you weren't really one of them, they'd have you taken care of faster than you could blink. All it takes is a whisper," she grabbed his collar and pulled him down to whisper passed his ear, half hissing, "and your world would end in a second."

He swallowed hard and flexed his hands, struggling to keep himself from holding her, closing his eyes as he internally gave himself a short pep talk. "Ok. I got it. I'll be careful. I promise."

"Good." She let her hands slide off his collar and smiled up at him. "Just trust me, Hanson. I'll keep you safe." Hanson just looked at her. He couldn't think of anything to say in response. "Goodnight, Hanson." After a quick hug she left the room and returned to her own.

As soon as the door closed, Hanson collapsed to his knees beside his bed, clutching his shirt over his heart, resting his other arm on the bed. "This is bad. Focus, Hanson." He turned and sat with his back against the side of the bed, taking deep breaths and staring up at the ceiling. Hanson stayed that way for a while, reminding himself over and over that Vanessa was someone he shouldn't think that way about. She was younger than him. A good girl. She was off limits. No matter how pretty she was, how much she smiled at him, hugged him, sought him out, he was _not _allowed to look at her that way. He was a police officer. She was someone helping him. That was it. Nothing more. And it shouldn't be anything more. The moment this case was over he would have to cut his ties with her. Even if she was upset, even if she…Hanson shut his eyes tightly at the thought of her crying. He didn't want to be the reason she cried. It hurt just to think about it. "Vanessa…"

Hanson didn't get any sleep that night. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the look of pain in Vanessa's eyes the day he told her he couldn't help Laura like she wanted him too, but when his eyes were open, he would think about how it felt to have her so close to him. By the time morning came his eyes were encircled with the evidence of his sleepless night. Feeling a little like he was back against a wall, he headed out as early as possible to Jump Street to see Doug. If there was anyone he knew would listen and have some advice for him, it was Doug. Standing outside of the chapel, Hanson patted his quads to a random beat, bobbing his head as he waited impatiently for Doug to arrive. The moment he spotted Doug approaching, Hanson jogged over to him and told him he needed to talk to him as soon as possible. Wondering what had his friend so agitated, Doug checked in with Fuller quickly and grabbed a cup of coffee for him and Hanson before going back outside to find him pacing and biting the top of his thumb. "So what's up?"

Taking the cup with a nod of thanks, Hanson stopped his pacing and stared down at its contents as he said, "Doug…I have a problem."

He looked at his friend seriously, shifting his weight on his feet. "What kind of problem? Can you stay on the case? You think someone can make you as a cop?"

He shook his head and took a gulp of coffee. "It's Vanessa." Somewhat nervous, he looked up at Doug to see his reaction.

Doug blinked and shook his head slightly in confusion. "Vanessa? The girl from your last case? What about her?"

"She's there."

"At the college?"

"Yeah."

"And what? She knows you're there? You're worried she'll tell the guys you're after?"

Hanson shook his head firmly, furrowing his brow as he did so. "No! She'd never do that! She's…she's been helping me."

Incredulously, Doug looked at Hanson and let his jaw drop momentarily. "She what? You let a civilian get involved in this?"

"I didn't really have a choice, Doug. She knows how those guys work. She said she's the only way I'd ever get in with them quickly. And she was right." He shook his head again. "Look, Doug, that's not the issue."

"Then what is it?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Not sure how to say it, Hanson took a deep breath and licked his lips as he looked around. "I, uh," he cleared his throat, "Doug, I like her. I _really _like her."

While he processed what he'd just heard, Doug nodded and pursed his lips. Then he ran his hand through his hair and shrugged. "Ok." He nodded some more before throwing his arms open and shouting, "What?!"

After setting the coffee down on a nearby stone step, Hanson threw his hands in the air. "I don't know what to say. When I'm near her-"

"Stop! Just…stop." Puffing out a long breath, Doug paced slowly with his hands on his head. "You didn't sleep last night." Hanson nodded. "You didn't, uh…you know…with her…did you?" Hanson gave him an angry look, making him put his hands up quickly. "Just asking. Just asking." He sat on the step beside the coffee. "Are you distracted?"

With a sigh, Hanson sat on the opposite side of the cup. "Sometimes."

"Do you think it'll get in the way of the case?"

Hanson paused as he thought. He'd been asking himself this very question for a while. A part of him thought it might. Part of him was afraid he'd be so caught up in what he felt for Vanessa that he'd mess up. The problem was, he didn't know what he meant when he thought that. Was it the case he was worried about messing up? Or was he worried about his relationship with Vanessa? As much as he wanted to keep her at arm's length, if not further, another part of him wanted to hold her close where no one could touch her. He wiped his face and looked at Doug. "No," he outright lied.

"Then why are we talking?"

Somewhat taken aback by Doug's response, he scoffed. "Doug, she's an innocent girl. Someone who should never be involved with the police like she has been."

"And?"

He scoffed again and rolled his eyes as he stood up and stepped in front of Doug. "And it's wrong for me to see her the way I do!"

"Why?"

"Wh-?" Filled with indignation and frustration he spun on his heel and clenched his fists in front of him. "Because nothing good can come of it!"

"Why not?"

Trying to stay calm, he turned to face Doug again. "Do you remember _any_ of my relationships since we met? Something bad _always _happens."

Doug shrugged coolly. "Maybe this time it won't. Maybe it will. That doesn't mean it's wrong to like her." He studied Hanson's expression and something in it reminded him of a time when he saw Hanson at his lowest. Concerned, Doug stood up and slid his hands into his pockets as he asked in a calm voice, "Amy?"

Shocked, Hanson froze. In his head he replayed a scene he hadn't thought of in a long time. He watched as Amy was shot by the man robbing the convenience store. The remnants of the guilt he'd felt back then echoed in his heart as he looked up at Doug and nodded, choking on his breath as he said, "Yeah."

"Tom, that wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, well, if something happens to Vanessa, it will be."

A short silence set in before Doug admitted quietly, "I don't know what to say."

"Forget it. I gotta get back anyway." Without waiting for Doug to respond, Hanson headed toward his car.

"Tom!"

"What?" He paused in the middle of turning the key to open his door.

"Have a little more faith, won't you?"

"In what?"

"Yourself."

Body made heavy by the turmoil in his head, Hanson trudged up the steps to his dorm room. Eyes on the floor, he didn't notice Vanessa until he looked up to stick his key in the doorknob. She stood against the door, staring at her hair as she played with it. Hanson waited for a bit, watching her as he fidgeted with his keys. Once he'd prepared himself, he stepped closer and cleared his throat to alert her of his presence. The moment she looked up, her eyes locked with his and she smiled. "You're back!" As soon as she'd said this, she noticed the dark circles around his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He stepped to the door and unlocked it.

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" she asked as she followed him inside.

"I did."

"Don't lie."

He slumped down onto his bed and lay with his arm covering his eyes. "I slept."

A little annoyed, Vanessa crossed her arms and stood near the bed. "Does it have to do with the case?" He didn't respond. "Hanson, answer me." Again, he refused to speak. "Fine." She watched him for a moment before unfolding her arms, a look of concern on her face as she knelt beside the bed. "Are you feeling ok? Maybe you shouldn't have stayed out so late."

He scoffed. "I'm not an old man."

Unconvinced, she laid her hand gently on his arm. "Do you need anything?"

His interest peaked by the tone of her voice, he lifted his arm and felt his heart ache at the sight of her concern. "Just rest. I'm ok."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He smiled softly at her. "Just some stress is all. I'll be fine in a few hours."

"Good! Junior said Chico wanted to see you."

He sat up quickly. "When?"

"After dinner, I think. Around se-"

"No, when did you see Junior?"

Vanessa shrugged. "I don't know. He stopped by my room."

"Was your roommate there?"

"No. She had to register her bike."

"I told you not to be alone with him!"

"It was for a second! What was I supposed to do? Pretend I wasn't there?"

"Yes!"

"Hanson!"

"You don't know if he's involved in the rape! It's not safe!"

"I can handle myself."

"Do you even see the way he looks at you?!"

"Yes, I do! I'm not stupid!"

"I'm not so sure about that!"

Furious, Vanessa leapt to her feet and raised her hand. Readying himself for a slap, Hanson closed his eyes and winced. His eyes shot open in shock when he felt her hands on either side of his face, gently pulling him to look at her. "Hanson, I'm ok. Nothing happened. I made a promise to you and I'll keep it as best I can, ok? You don't have to worry about me so much. I'm a big girl."

His eyes darted between hers as though he were searching for something. His heart throbbed the longer he thought over her words. Her soft touch made him feel terrible for what he'd said to her. "I'm sorry."

She smiled warmly at him and leaned down to hug him. "It's ok. I know how you feel. I won't do anything stupid." Unable to keep himself from it, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, breathing deeply and calmly.

During dinner, Vanessa did all she could to prepare Hanson for meeting with Chico on his own. Quite a few of the things she said to him he had already learned in previous cases, but there were one or two new concepts he had to remember. She told him that the most important part was to not back down or bend. No matter what happened, he should never do anything that would compromise his pride in any way. Pride meant just about everything to those guys and if he were to show that he wasn't as prideful as they were, all his effort up to that moment would be for nothing.

"Now I think this is your best bet for a good impression," she said as she smoothed out his shirt and stepped back to look him over. "Turn around for me?" Nodding, she folded her arms over her chest. "Slightly too long, baggy-ish jeans; a solid tan buttom-down shirt; and messy, but somehow still styled hair. You look good. It's very casual so it conveys the feeling that you don't care who he thinks he is. You ready?"

He chuckled softly. "Yes, Mommy."

She hit his arm lightly. "Good luck."

When Hanson arrived at the house he and Vanessa had been to the night before, he had to walk through a congregation of guys sitting on either side of the steps, staring at him. Keeping what Vanessa said in mind, he walked passed them all without giving them so much as a glance as though saying they weren't worth the time. Chico was in the living room sitting at a round table and playing poker. When he noticed Hanson, he rose from his seat and grinned, opening his arms. "Henderson! Welcome, welcome." He turned to the other guys sitting at the table and bowed slightly. "I'm afraid I have some business to attend to." Waving Hanson over, Chico stepped away from the table and into a nearby room. Hanson followed him, wondering what "business" he had in mind. Once the two were in the room, Chico shut the door and clapped his hands together. "Henderson, my man, how you been?"

"Good," he replied dully.

"Good, good." Chico walked over to the window and pointed out to the sunset. "Beautiful view, don't you think?"

"What do you want?"

Chico and Hanson looked at each other, each daring the other to speak first. "Henderson, do you like beautiful things?"

"You're wasting my time." He turned to leave, but Chico grabbed his arm. Wrenching his arm free, he faced Chico again. "Get to the point. I have better things to do with my time than chat about the sunset."

Chuckling, Chico smiled and wagged his finger at Hanson. "Now I like that. I do. Ok, here's the thing," he said as he rubbed his hands together. "You have something I want and I want to know what it'll take to get you to hand it over."

"What could I possibly have?" he asked with a slight sneer to mask the nervousness he felt as his heart pounded with the fear that he knew what Chico was getting at.

"Your girl. Vanessa." Chico grinned. "She's beautiful. And I like beautiful things."


	8. Keeping a Promise

"What the hell happened?!" Vanessa's ice cream cone fell to the concrete as she rushed forward.

Cursing his luck, Hanson looked away and swore under his breath, pausing and holding the door open as he waited for her to get closer. "Nothing."

"_This_ is nothing?" she asked, grabbing his chin and turning his face to get a better

look at his black eye and the small cut underneath it. "C'mon, I have a first aide kit." Without hesitating, she took his hand and hurried up the stairs, towing him along behind her. In her room, she sat him down on her bed firmly and collected the first aide kit from her top drawer. "This'll sting, but if you're a good boy you'll get a lollipop from the nurse at the front desk." Glancing at his face, she smiled at the faint hint of a grin on it. "Can you see at all out of it?" He shook his head slowly so as not to interfere with her dabbing at his cut with the alcohol swab. "Does it hurt?" Hanson didn't make any sign of responding. "Right, right. I get it. You're a big, tough boy." Gingerly, she laid a bandage over his cut and smoothed it. " Alright. Need any pain meds for that eye? And don't you dare play tough. If it hurts, tell me."

Distracted by his thoughts, Hanson sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and pressing his lips to his interlocked fingers. "I'm fine."

Vanessa sat back on her feet and watched him with evident apprehension. "What happened? Can you continue investing the case?" He nodded without a word. "Well…I'm glad you're back." Her words caused him to look up at her. "I mean…something worse could have happened, but it didn't. You came back." She smiled despite the sadness in her eyes.

Minutes passed as Hanson simply looked at her. Finally, he spoke softly. "Vanessa…"

"Yes?" In one fluid motion, Hanson grabbed her hand and sank forward down onto his knees as he brought her into his arms and held her close. Startled by his actions, Vanessa blinked rapidly and faltered before laying her hands on his back as she hugged him in return. "H-Hanson? Are you ok? You're scaring me. What happened?"

Not sure how to begin, Hanson closed his eyes and replayed what happened after Chico told him he wanted Vanessa:

Hanson felt an intense mixture of anger and fear as the words swirled in his head. "What?" he asked after slowly taking a deep breath.

"I said I want your girl." Chico leaned back on the windowsill and crossed his arms as he smirked at Hanson. "C'mon, Henderson. Be real. You can't handle a woman like that. Let alone…_satisfy _her."

The only way to curb his fury was to slam the side of his fist into the wall beside him. "What the fuck do you know about her? Tell ya what, how about you come see me when you have the balls to actually go up against me?"

Chico set his jaw as he chuckled lowly. "I can have any woman I want."

As cruelly as he could, Hanson scoffed. "That's why you had to come crawling to beg me."

Outraged, Chico lunged forward and pointed at Hanson. "Fuck you! I gave you this chance to back off with dignity and your pride, but you wanna play? I'll play."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots." Hanson pretended to shiver.

Becoming consumed by his rage, Chico honestly did begin to shake as his lip and eye twitched. "Watch what you say before you regret it."

"How about _you_ watch me walk out of this door before I laugh at your dumb ass?" Hanson turned and set his hand on the door by the time Chico reached him. Expecting this, Hanson ducked and dodged in time to make Chico's fist soar into the door. With a cocky laugh, he clapped slowly, mocking the guy. "Good aim. Hey, next time I feel the desire to see a swing and a miss, I'll give you a call." Further enraged, Chico barreled into Hanson, tackling him to the ground. He and Hanson struggled, wrestling on the floor until Hanson was able to pin Chico and started punching him. With each hit he released some of the anger he had been holding back since he stopped himself from knocking Junior out the day they met. Thinking he'd done enough, Hanson stopped and stood on his knees, breathing heavily. Just as he was about to stand up, Chico suddenly grabbed Hanson's shirt and head-butted him. As he fell back, Hanson covered his eye while the throbbing pain dizzied him a little. Chico hurried to his feet, wiping away some of the blood on his face. Pissed off entirely, he began kicking Hanson's side. The intense and sharp pain from the kick of his steel-toed boot caused Hanson to curl his body inward, allowing for the kicks to travel from his side to his stomach, almost knocking the wind out of him. It took everything Hanson had to push aside his pain and grab Chico's leg to bring him down. Keeping a hold on his stomach, Hanson crawled over to him and lifted his arm in time to keep Chico from swinging at him. He sucked in a sharp breath as they began to wrestle again. Taking advantage of a moment when Hanson was gasping in pain, Chico punched him with the hand on which he wore a ring. The ring cut Hanson under the eye and made him wince as the blood started to drip down his cheek. Summoning all of his remaining strength into his fist, Hanson punched Chico right in the face, breaking his nose. While Chico writhed in pain, Hanson rushed out of the room and out to his car without looking back.

"Hanson?" Vanessa's voice snapped Hanson back to the present. He found himself gazing directly into her eyes. Her soft hands on his cheeks calmed him.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Well…the way you're hugging me…it's kinda hard to breathe."

In a flash, Hanson grabbed her shoulders and shoved her away as far as his arms would allow. "Sorry!" Placing his hand on his forehead, he got to his feet and leaned over the nearby desk, holding himself up by setting his other hand on the desktop. Praying he hadn't made her feel uncomfortable or given his feelings away, he closed his eyes and sighed. He felt her rest her hand on his shoulder and stand beside him. Her touch reminded him that he still hadn't told her what happened. "You can't help me with this case anymore."

Surprised, her hand twitched slightly as she asked, "Why?"

"It's not safe."

"It wasn't safe from the beginning."

"Vanessa!" He turned his head quickly to look at her, startling her. Remorseful, he took his hand from his forehead and gently laid it over hers. "Chico wants to take you from me."

Vanessa remained silent for some time as she thought over what Hanson said. When she finally spoke, her words upset him worse than Chico's. "Would that be so bad?" Seeing the flash of anger in his expression, she hurriedly added, "I mean, if I'm by his side, he'll tell me things he might not tell Junior or any other his other guys, right? If he knows anything about the rape, I could hear about it. Wouldn't it be an advantage?"

Masking his fury as well as he could, Hanson clenched his shaking fists and hissed through his teeth as he struggled to stay calm. "You think it would be a _good_ idea for you to get close to a possible rapist?"

Aware of the slight growl in his tone, she swallowed and stood tall. "I can handle myself better than you think, Hanson. I wasn't known as 'Vicious Vanessa' because it was fun to say. I earned it. They accept me for a reason." Faster than she could blink she found herself slammed against the wall, her wrists pinned. "What the fuck?!" After glancing at her wrists, she looked forward again and fell instantly silent when she saw the way Hanson's eyes burned.

"You call this 'handling' yourself?" he growled lowly, squeezing her wrists. "Do you have any idea what would happened to you if Chico was the one holding you down right now?" Too stubborn to admit defeat, Vanessa gritted her teeth and struggled against his grasp. Angered further, Hanson pulled her wrists together over her head and held them in one hand. "You really don't get it," he whispered menacingly passed her ear. Suddenly, Vanessa felt his hand on the side of her leg, just above her knee, a few inches below the hem of her skirt. "If you can't even stop _me, _someone who _doesn't _want to hurt you," he said, slowly sliding his hand up her leg, stopping when he reached her skirt, "how the hell do you expect to stop someone who does?" Satisfied that he must have frightened her enough, Hanson released his hold on her and stepped away. The moment there was some distance between them, Vanessa plunged her fist into his stomach as hard as she could.

"Don't you _ever _do that to me again!" she shouted. Poised to hit him again, she watched as he coughed and collapsed to the floor. "I didn't get you that hard! Get up!" Gasping for breath, Hanson shook on the ground. "Hanson…" Still desperately trying to breathe, he turned onto his back. Seeing the agony on his face, Vanessa knelt beside him, heart pounding anxiously. "Hanson! Oh my God. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" As he waved his hand to try to tell her it wasn't her fault, his shirt rode up a little and revealed the bruises on his stomach and side from where he'd been kicked. Shocked, Vanessa gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. As she stared at the bruises, flashes of Laura's face after she'd been beaten surfaced in her mind and she shook with fear while tears began to flow down her cheeks before she could hold them back. "No," she choked out softly. The air finally coming back into his lungs, Hanson propped himself up on his arm and reached for her hand. He held it tightly as he sat himself up and pulled her to him. Sitting in his lap, Vanessa trembled as she cried into his shoulder.

"It's ok," he rasped, still getting his breath back. "It's ok. I'm ok. I came back, right? I'm right here. Here." He brought her hand up to his chest and laid it over his heart. "You can feel it, right? Calm down now. It's not as bad as it looks."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I hurt you." Still shaking, she clutched his shirt and hiccupped as she cried.

"You didn't. It's fine. I'm fine. Vanessa, look at me. Look at me." Tucking her hair behind her ear, he gazed into her eyes and said softly, "Vanessa, I don't want you to get hurt. Promise me you won't insist on investigating this with me. Promise me." She nodded and sniffed as he brushed his thumb below her eye, wiping the tears away. "Good." He cupped her cheek and felt his heart throb as he looked at her tear-stained face with the moon shining in the window behind her. "It's late. You should be getting to bed now." As she nodded and started to stand, he fought to keep himself from using the hand firmly on her back to keep her in his lap. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Hanson," she whispered as she offered him her hand to help him up. At the door, Hanson lingered, holding her hand and stroking the top of it with his thumb.

Hours passed after Hanson left, but Vanessa couldn't sleep for even a moment. She stared up at the ceiling and thought over what had happened. No matter how much she tossed and turned, she couldn't get her mind to settle down. Every time she thought of his wounds, she would remember Laura. When she thought of Laura, it brought back all of those terrible feelings of helplessness and powerlessness. Despite how much she wanted to, she had no way of helping her best friend when she needed her most. Finally, Vanessa hit her mattress and sat up. She didn't know how to help Laura, but she _did _know how to help Hanson. Never again would she sit back when someone she cared about needed her help. And she wouldn't exactly be breaking her promise. She wouldn't be investigating with him. There was no way she would tell him about it. It would all be done behind his back. With a sigh, she lay back onto her bed and whispered softly, "Don't be mad, Hanson."

The next day, when Vanessa awoke, she got dressed and snuck out of the dorm so she wouldn't bump into Hanson. Knowing the kinds of places Junior and his boys frequent, she made her way over to one, intent on getting someone to take her to where Chico was. As she walked, she tried to think of a way to approach Chico. Whatever she said to him had to make sense. When she reached her destination, she took a deep breath and held her head high as she walked around looking for any sign of Junior before she'd be forced to walk up to some random guy. Once she spotted Junior, she almost leaped out of happiness and hustled over to him. Obviously bragging, Junior introduced her as one of his oldest friends. She faked a smile and interest in the characters around him for as long as she could before she pulled him aside and told him she wanted to see Chico. Surprised and disappointed, Junior scratched his head and told her he didn't know where Chico was. A little frustrated, Vanessa set her jaw and used a thinly veiled insult to get Junior to make a few calls to find out where Chico was at the time. As soon as he'd told her, she used her charm to get him to find someone to give her a ride to the apartment complex in which Chico was doing business. The entire ride over, she had to keep herself from rebuking the driver as he ogled her far too often. She shifted in the seat uncomfortably, adjusting the tight mini-skirt she wore and tugging up the loose tank top with a low dipping collar that fell over her curves well. Although she hated dressing that way, she knew she had to in order to get Chico's attention or, if need be, distract him if she slipped up and made him suspicious.

"Well, well, well, I must say I wasn't expecting you," Chico said as he grinned at the sight of Vanessa strolling in through the apartment door.

It took all of her self-control not to laugh at his appearance. His eye was swollen far worse than Hanson's and his broken nose still had traces of blood around it. His lip was split and from the looks of it, made it difficult to talk considering how fat it still was. "I had to come see you after I saw Henderson last night."

Chico scoffed, his arrogance running rampant as he asked, "How's the guy look?"

"Terrible," she responded, resisting the urge to snicker. "He doesn't even wear his wounds well."

A large grin plastered itself onto Chico's face. "I like that. The difference between a boy and a man."

"I'll say." Summoning all of her courage, Vanessa stepped toward him and sat on a nearby chair, lifting one leg over the other, intentionally drawing attention to how short her skirt was. "There's nothing like a man who can fight and come out wearing his scars like trophies."

It was like taking candy from a baby how easily Chico fell into her trap. Vanessa watched him sink down onto the couch beside her chair and held back a laugh at the way his jaw nearly dropped while he stared at her. He waved his hand at his lackeys, telling them silently to beat it. "Well, it's only natural for a man to risk anything for a woman like you," he said, still staring at her.

"How flattering." She sat forward enough to give him a good view of her cleavage as she went on. "I guess I don't have to tell you then that I kicked his weak ass to the curb." He swallowed hard as he changed the way he was seated. "I mean, he had no…passion. He wasn't the kind of man who'd just take what he wanted. Not the kind of man I need." The way he was looking at her and nodding, she knew it wouldn't be long before she had him twisted around her little finger. It was funny. Somehow, it reminded her of Marcus and the day she started working for him. The day she got her nickname. Shaking her head, she told herself to stay focused.

"Baby, I know what you need."

Trying to hide her disgust, she played with her hair and turned her attention to it. "Do you?"

"Oh yeah."

Meanwhile, Hanson was hurrying his way over to Jump Street after Harry called and told him that the rape victim had finally been able to give a full account of what happened to her. "The sooner I get this case wrapped up, the sooner Vanessa will be safe and…" As he neared the red light at the intersection, he stared at it, "and the sooner I'll get out of her life forever."


	9. It's Over

"It's ok, Sarah. Just take your time," Judy said softly to the girl as she held her hand gently. Sarah took a deep breath and looked up to see Hanson pacing behind Judy. Although his words to her had been as encouraging as Judy's, the way he paced made it clear that he was impatiently waiting to hear what happened. Judy noticed Sarah's gaze and looked back at Hanson, shooting him an annoyed look. "Just tell us the same thing you did in the hospital earlier, ok?" Looking apologetic, but still agitated, Hanson sat down beside Judy and twiddled his thumbs under the table.

After another deep breath, Sarah squeezed Judy's hand slightly and began talking. "I…My friend, Julie, invited me to a party at the beginning of summer. I was nervous, you know, cuz I'd never been to a party with people I didn't go to school with, but Julie said it would be ok cuz her cousin would be there." She took another deep breath and licked her dry lips nervously. "So, when we got there, it didn't seem so bad. There was good music, cute guys, it looked pretty cool. It was even kinda fun." Her face fell as she fidgeted slightly and went on. "I'm not a really confident dancer so while Julie went to dance with her cousin, I went and stood by the punch bowl. This…this guy came over and started talking to me. At first, he was funny and he looked really cool. He reminded me of the guy I had a crush on." As she shrugged, her expression gave away her shame. "He told me it was kinda hot in the room and he wanted to get some air so he asked if we could talk somewhere else." The memories surfacing again, her voice cracked and she began to tremble lightly. "I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid, Sarah. It wasn't your fault," Judy assured her. Hanson nodded, trying to make her feel better, but he was having a little trouble hiding his anxiety. The more he listened to the girl, the more he thought of Vanessa. They weren't the same, not by any means, but they were similar. Both good, kind girls. He was anxious to hear the full report already. Where was Vanessa now? Did she have classes today? Even though she had promised him, something inside him was still worried she'd do something about the case. As soon as Sarah was finished with her account, he would hurry back to the college.

"I…I didn't think anything bad would happen, so I went with him. I should have known from the way he weaved through the room that he owned the apartment, but I was so overwhelmed by all the people that I just followed him." She paused to compose herself again before going on. "He brought me to this bedroom. It had a really pretty view. I could see a park not too far away. And all the city lights. It was so nice." Tears began to well in her eyes. "I was so engrossed in the view that I didn't notice he had locked the door. It wasn't until he stepped behind me that I realized something was off. I tried to laugh it off and asked him if he was having fun." Her tears began to fall and she choked on her breath. "He said, 'Not yet,' and then he…he…he p-put his hands on my hips. I tried to push him away, but he grabbed my wrists and threw me on the bed. I told him no, but he said he loved beautiful things. He kept telling me I was beautiful." Hanson felt his blood turn to ice. His heart froze with fear. His muscles tensed and all he wanted to do was bolt from his chair and leap into the Mustang to see Vanessa.

Judy placed a comforting hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Can you tell us what he looked like or his name?"

Initially, Sarah shook her head. She'd spent the summer suppressing the memory of the experience so her recollection of his appearance was spotty. Then she paused and nodded. "I…I don't know if it's his real name, but when they were throwing me out of the apartment, someone called him…Chico."

"Hanson!" Judy called, pointing for Harry to follow him while she stayed back to console Sarah.

Hanson navigated himself through the chapel as quickly as his feet would allow. Dodging officer after officer, his mind focused only on Vanessa. Harry had to finally jump over a desk to catch up to him. Desperately grasping at Hanson's jacket, Harry held him back momentarily. "Hanson, man, where you going?"

"Where the fuck do you think I'm going?" he snapped as he wrenched his jacket sleeve out of Harry's grasp.

Seeing the commotion starting, Doug wrapped up his conversation with an officer and hurried over to Hanson and Harry just as Hanson was exiting the chapel. "What's up, Iok?"

"I don't know. One minute he's with Judy hearing Sarah's testimony and the next he's running out of here like the place is on fire," he answered, throwing his hands up.

With a short, exasperated sigh, Doug wiped his hand over his face. "Get your coat. We might have to prevent a murder." Harry blinked a few times before following right behind Doug.

Meanwhile, Vanessa was occupied trying to keep her hands to herself and certainly not in the traditional sense. The more Chico spoke, the more she wanted to punch him. He was pompous and arrogant and the only way Vanessa could keep herself from leaving that apartment without the evidence she'd gone there to get was by thinking of Hanson. He was her only motivation for doing it in the first place. Every once in a while she would squeeze the strap on her purse which held the tape recorder. "Hey, it just me or is it stuffy in here?"

Vanessa looked up from her thoughts and pretended to think about his question while she actually tried to figure out what it was he'd asked. "Never thought I'd hear a guy like you say 'stuffy.' You losin your touch?"

There it was again: his disgusting smile. "My touch is just fine."

"So _you_ say," she challenged him coyly, swallowing her repulsion.

Smiling a little wider, he got to his feet and straightened out the windbreaker he was wearing. "How bout we go to a different room?"

As soon as his question registered, her heart stopped for an instant. She desperately tried to hide the shock of fear she felt course through her. There was no mistaking it: Chico was trying to get her into bed. And when she refused, what was he going to do? "Sure. Why not?"

While Vanessa was busy trying to think of a way to escape Chico's apartment safely, Hanson was banging his fist against the door of her dorm room. Scared by the sound, Vanessa's roommate open the door and almost shouted at him for making such a ruckus, but the way he barged in cut her off. "Where's Vanessa?"

"I don't know. She left a while ago."

"When? Where was she headed? Who was she with?" Hanson rattled off each question as she searched around the room for any signs of Junior or someone else having been there.

"I don't know. She didn't say. And she left by herself. Why? What's going on? Is she ok?"

"Did you notice anything unusual about her? She say anything that might be a clue?"

The girl shrugged, shaken by the urgent way in which he questioned her. "She borrowed some of my clothes again and said- Oh!" She suddenly covered her mouth and looked apologetic.

Fearing the worst, Hanson shook the girl by the shoulders. "What?! What'd she say?! Tell me!"

"Tom!" Doug came rushing in and pulled Hanson away from the girl. "Tom, calm down."

"Vanessa's gone, Doug!" Hanson shouted at him. "What'd she say to you?!" he repeated to the girl.

Holding her arm as she frowned, the girl admitted quietly, "She told me that if you came by I was supposed to say she went to the library. You weren't supposed to know she left."

Hanson's body went numb and he fell to his knees before Doug could catch him. "Oh God, no…"

Harry stood in the doorway and exchanged a look with Doug. "Look, Hanson, maybe she went somewhere else, you don't know-"

"No. I _do_ know," he said as he slowly got to his feet again. "Because I know her." Eyes burning with a newfound fury, he pushed passed Doug and stormed over to his room. A few feet away, he saw Junior unlocking the door. By the time he reached Junior, the guy had already gotten the door unlocked and was pushing it open. Too angry and spurred by his fear, Hanson grabbed Junior's collar and shoved him roughly inside the room, locking the door again so Doug and Harry couldn't follow him.

"Hey, what the fuck?" Junior asked angrily, adjusting his shirt.

Rage taking over, Hanson gripped Junior's shirt firmly and threw him against the wall. Ignoring the shouts of Doug and Harry outside, Hanson got right in Junior's face and growled, "Where's Vanessa?"

"I-I-I don't know!" he stammered, frightened by Hanson's character change.

"Don't play with me! I _know_ she went to see you and if you don't tell me where she went, your face is gonna get real well acquainted with the cement in this wall, do you understand me?" Junior was too afraid to answer, he just shook. "I said, _do you understand me_?!"

"Ain't it a nice view?" Chico asked, motioning to the window in the room.

Cautiously, Vanessa stepped over to the window. "That's a cute park out there. You go there often?"

"Nah, not often. Too busy handlin' my business."

Vanessa flinched slightly at the soft sound of the door locking. "All work and no fun makes Jack a dull boy, don't you know that?" she asked, trying to sound as calm as she could even though her heart was pounding so hard she was starting to find it hard to breathe.

"Oh, I know how to have fun," he said, his voice getting closer as he spoke. "Trust me." He slowly slid the back of his hand up her side before sliding it back down and resting it on her waist.

"I don't remember giving you permission to touch me," she said quietly, turning to shake his hand off.

Chico chuckled lowly. "You're funny. Like I haven't noticed all the signals you been sendin' me."

"What signals?"

"You know," he replied, stroking her arms with his fingers.

"The same ones that girl you raped was sending?" He froze. "Or do you mean the ones that tell you I think you're a scumbag that's too low for even the dogs to bite?" He seized her, gripping her arms so tightly she could feel them already starting to bruise.

"I didn't rape _anyone_!" he roared in her face, eyes wide with ferocity.

"Do you not know what 'no' means or are you just stupid?" Vanessa knew making him angrier would put her life in danger, but that was better than letting him rape her.

Furious, he dragged her over to the bed and threw her down. Doing her best to keep her wits about her, Vanessa scrambled back against the wall. "That bitch wanted it. She followed me in this room just like you did."

"I'd rather swallow acid than let you touch me. What's your problem, huh? Is it this?" She lifted her pinky finger and wiggled it at him tauntingly. With a loud growl, Chico swung his hand back and struck her across the face with his open palm. The mark he left behind immediately began to swell after turning red. "Who taught you how to hit? Your boyfriend?" After hitting her again he grabbed her ankles and pulled her closer to him. While she tried to scurry back again, he climbed onto the bed and grabbed her wrists, pressing them against the mattress with a sick smile.

"I love it when they squeal," he hissed as Vanessa struggled.

"That's funny," she laughed breathlessly while fighting against his grasp, "considering you're the only pig around here." Once he started to respond, she spit in his face. "Go roll around in your own filth where you belong."

"You got real nerve, bitch!" Sparing no time, Chico belted her again to daze her before holding her wrists with one hand and reaching into his pocket, pulling out a switchblade. "Started carrying this around after my little chat with your boy. Good thing, huh? It's pretty handy." Vanessa shut her eyes, waiting for the blade to mar her face. The sound of clothing tearing made her eyes shoot open again. Angling her head as best she could, she saw her top and bra ripped open. Her chest heaved with fear as her mind reeled and she desperately tried to think of something, anything, to get herself away from him long enough to call for help. "So beautiful," he whispered, throwing the weapon aside and running his hand over her stomach slowly. The crashing sound of a door being broken down stopped him just as he was about to reach up to her breast. Both he and Vanessa turned to the door, straining their ears for any further sounds.

"Tom! Tom, man, calm down!" Vanessa couldn't help but smile at the sound of Doug's voice. Although she didn't know who was shouting, she knew to whom he was shouting.

"It's over," she said with a smirk. "You're gonna go away for a _long _time." As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Hanson shouting for her to say something. "Hanson! Hanson, he's in here! In here!" Panicked, Chico got off the bed and ran to the window. It took only a few good shoulder slams before Hanson and Doug were able to knock the door in enough for Harry to get it open with a well-aimed kick. Hanson rushed inside first, scanning the room with his eyes in seconds. When his eyes fell on Vanessa, he first felt relief wash over him, but then when he fully took in her appearance, ire surged through him. Shaking from the fury, he rushed Chico, grabbing him and pulling him down as he kneed Chico several times in the stomach. But it wasn't enough. Over and over again he slammed Chico's face against his knee, not minding at all as the blood from the guy's broken nose splattered onto his jeans. Doug and Harry had never seen Hanson so unstably furious. All they could do was watch. At first, Vanessa was too shocked and scared to move, but when she finally started to feel her legs again, she leapt off the bed and wrapped her arms around Hanson's upper body, half pinning his arms to his sides. "Stop! Please! It's ok now! Hanson, stop!" Breathing heavily, Hanson released Chico and watched as his body fell limp to the floor. His body suddenly feeling sluggish, he moved toward the wall and sank down with his back against it. Still unsure of whether he'd really calmed, Vanessa followed him and knelt between his outstretched legs, resting her hands lightly on his drawn-up knees. "Hanson?" He reached out suddenly and pulled her to him, burying his face in her neck.

"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely. "I'm so sorry."

Struggling to hold back tears, she hugged him back tightly. "It's ok. I'm ok. Nothing happened. I'm ok." Harry and Doug left the two alone while they carried Chico out.


End file.
